Electronic medical records: a really major disaster without single payer insurance

[eridani]

1. What a wonderful way to help private insurers cherry-pick and deny claims! Any security can be busted by those who want to badly enough, and private insurers are well-heeled enough to do it. The only way to stop that is to eliminate private insurers except for those who supply bells and whistles additions to universal coverage.

2. If we maintain our current fragmented provider networks and risk pools (inevitable if we insist on keeping private insurers), even the actual benefits of electronic medical records will be greatly diminished in value. After my COBRA expires, for instance, I will be forced to give up my primary care physician of the last 20 years, as benefits for retirees don't cover my current HMO. How idiotic do you have to be to think that a bitstream can replace a practitioner's hands-on knowledge of long-term patients?

[Jack_DeLeon]

1. I really dont like the idea of government having access to that much information on indivduals...

Its bad enough already.

[Horse with no Name]

2. I found out last month that my insurance information

was "stolen" from a laptop left in someone's car. Now the onus is upon me to make sure nobody uses my stuff. Fun huh?
Not only that, but my employer has started a new "wellness" program which is nothing more than a database that undoubtedly will be used to exclude coverage at a future date. I'm supposed to have blood drawn this next week...and I am really wondering what will happen if I "choose" not to do this.
I'm sure my benefits will be limited in some form or fashion.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I'm really worried about security

Rather than making electronic medical records a top priority, why not concentrate on making sure insurance companies cannot deny coverage or demand that medicines be switched even though they have no clue WHY a certain medicine was prescribed?