Through the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP), Maryland went live with its statewide health information exchange in mid-October. But not everyone in the state was singing the praises of EHRs and the sharing of electronic patient data.
MedChi, the nonprofit Maryland State Medical Society that represents more than 22,000 physicians in the state, announced that it has passed a resolution calling for state legislation to ensure that physicians remain in charge of making decisions for their patients. The resolution also called for medical records to be put on a neutral platform so no commercial interests would be advanced.
One of the biggest concerns of the Maryland physicians is that insurance and drug companies will manipulate the electronic records, which would result in patient treatment decisions that favor their interests. One way is to improperly access the record system and another is to influence decisions by making recommendations delivered from the companies' electronic systems to the EHRs.
Gene Ransom, MedChi's CEO, said his organization also wants to ensure that the data remains private and patients control their data.
CRISP and the Maryland Health Care Commission have been working on privacy policies and ensuring proper access to patient data. Privacy issues are front and center for all statewide HIEs and healthcare organizations that are implementing EHRs and EMRs, as well as other state and federal agencies.
Not surprisingly, it seems that the adversarial relationship that has historically plagued payer and provider is spilling into the health IT arena. The battle over who is in charge of treating the patient is being played out through EHRs.
Let's hope that both sides put the patient first in all of their arguments.
One thing the advocacy group and the payers agree on is that EHRs have the ability to streamline communications between the two adversaries, which could, among other things, speed pre-authorization. That's a good thing for patients. That's the kind of alignment that we can only hope to see more of between payer and provider.
Photo by the bridge via Creative Commons license.
