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The Personal Health Record - A WAY of Containing Healthcare Costs
Employing a personal health record can decrease healthcare expenses because many of the healthcare dollars go toward the generation of information had a need to make diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment. With passing of HR. 3590, that may expand healthcare coverage to an additional 32 million persons by 2019, more patients will be establishing new doctor/patient relationships and the flow of health information will likely increase exponentially.

Although in how to change google account there's been a push for doctors to adopt and utilize electronic healthcare record programs for management of patient health data in the hopes that there will be a centralized database of patient health information which will minimize treatment errors, the truth of the matter is, most doctors have not adopted the technology, and also if most did, due to the differences used and recording styles, a central database would not contain all of the data updated in real-time to meet up healthcare needs of each patient in every healthcare setting and situation. T here fore, the very best repository of health information is you and your own personal health record.

One scenario illustrating the price of generating and exchanging medical data may be the initial new patient visit to establish a doctor/patient relationship. Your physician or other doctor evaluating an individual for the very first time needs information supplied by the patient that is oftentimes lacking because the patient isn't knowledgeable and/or because previous treatment records were not requested, requested but not received, or requested and received but illegible. The new physician will oftentimes need approximate dates of diagnoses, approximate dates and outcomes of prior tests, and approximate dates of hospitalizations with some information on the care that was given. If that information is not available, some doctors will order tests that he or she might otherwise not order had the required information been offered by the time of the individual visit. The net result is an additional cost for the patient or at least another element of healthcare inflation.

Many diagnostic determinations and treatment courses of action are created based on subjective data, i.e. information verbalized by the patient. For more info , in evaluating chest pain a doctor will usually need to know when and how the pain started, the positioning of the pain, the frequency of the pain, the duration of the pain, the intensity of the pain, the standard of the pain (cramping, burning, stinging, etc.), why is it better, what brings it on, what makes it worse, and other symptoms associated with the pain before making a decision whether to admit the patient to a healthcare facility to eliminate a coronary attack or whether to treat the patient for acid reflux disorder outside of the hospital. Often however, because patients have not thought about the information in an organized way and/or because of nervousness, patients feel put on the spot when asked certain questions about their symptoms and conditions. By recording information pertaining to symptoms and conditions to be discussed during the next doctor visit, an individual is way better prepared for the visit with useful information that may reduce expenses by minimizing over-reliance on testing. Additionally, the recorded information is likely to be more accurate than information which includes not been recorded and therefore more prone to maximize the standard of healthcare received.

An individual health record might therefore also lower healthcare costs during follow-up or sick visits because a well-designed personal health record software program enables the patient to generate pre-visit notes and journal notes about new problems and established problems, which may be printed and carried to the physician during a trip. Additionally, by updating entries in the personal health record the patient tends to be even better prepared to answer questions that'll be presented during the next visit to the physician.

At the time of the writing of the article the duration of an average doctor visit in america is approximately 16 minutes that is fairly generous in comparison to a county like Holland where it really is 8 minutes. Factors which will probably result in a decrease in the length of doctor visits in the United States include healthcare reform which will increase the amount of patients receiving treatment, the shortage of physicians, and increasing medical practice overhead. If the average amount of doctor visit in america does decrease the amount of visits to address a set number of conditions will probably increase unless more could be accomplished per individual visit.

Implementing and maintaining a personal health record in principle should reduce healthcare cost not merely at the time of the brand new patient visit, but also during established patient visits by shifting the diagnostic emphasis from objective date to subjective data and reducing the amount of required visits. The basic means by which employing a personal health record can lower healthcare costs is by enabling more efficient generation and exchange of health information.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purpose only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for medical consultation with a professional professional. The author encourages users of the web to be careful when using medical information obtained from the Internet and to check with your physician if you are unsure about your medical condition.

Having more than 20 years experience treating and evaluating patients I fully appreciate the value of accurate patient health information and its contribution to quality healthcare and cost containment. Discover how to organize your individual health information and how to optimize health information exchange with a personal health record [http://www.proactivehealthoutlet.com/HealthFrame-Famility-Edition-Personal-Health-
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