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THE NON-PUBLIC Health Record - A Means of Containing Healthcare Costs
Employing a personal health record can decrease healthcare expenses because lots of the healthcare dollars go toward the generation of information needed to make diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment. With passage of HR. 3590, that will expand healthcare coverage to yet another 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 recently there's been website for doctors to adopt and utilize electronic healthcare record programs for management of patient health data in the hopes that you will see a centralized database of patient health information that will minimize treatment errors, the truth of the problem is, most doctors haven't adopted the technology, and even if most did, due to differences used and recording styles, a central database wouldn't normally contain all the data updated in real-time to meet healthcare needs of each patient in every healthcare setting and situation. Therefore, the very best repository of health information is you and your own private health record.

One scenario illustrating the cost of generating and exchanging medical data is the initial new patient stop by at establish a doctor/patient relationship. A physician or other healthcare provider evaluating a patient for the first time needs information supplied by the patient that is oftentimes lacking because the patient isn't knowledgeable and/or because previous treatment records weren't requested, requested however, not received, or requested and received but illegible. The new physician will oftentimes need approximate dates of diagnoses, approximate dates and results of prior tests, and approximate dates of hospitalizations with some details of the care which was given. If that information isn't available, some doctors will order tests that he / she might otherwise not order had the required information been available at the time of the patient visit. The web result is an additional expense for the individual or at the minimum another component of healthcare inflation.

Many diagnostic determinations and treatment courses of action are created based on subjective data, i.e. information verbalized by the individual. For example, in evaluating chest pain a doctor will usually need to know when and the way the pain started, the positioning of the pain, the frequency of the pain, the duration of the pain, the intensity of the pain, the quality 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 individual to a healthcare facility to eliminate a coronary attack or whether to take care of the patient for acid reflux outside the hospital. Many times however, because patients have not thought about the info in an organized way and/or due to nervousness, patients feel placed on the spot when asked certain questions about their symptoms and conditions. By recording information pertaining to symptoms and conditions to be discussed during an upcoming doctor visit, an individual is way better prepared for the visit with useful information which can 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 just because a well-designed personal health record software program enables the patient to create pre-visit notes and journal notes about new problems and established problems, which can be printed and carried to the doctor during a visit. Additionally, by updating entries in the non-public health record the individual tends to be even better prepared to answer questions that will be presented during the next visit to the doctor.

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

Implementing and maintaining a personal health record in principle should reduce healthcare cost not only during 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 number of required visits. The basic means by which utilizing a personal health record can lower healthcare costs is by enabling better generation and exchange of health information.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purpose only and isn't 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 web 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. Learn to organize your personal health information and how to optimize health information exchange with an individual health record [http://www.proactivehealthoutlet.com/HealthFrame-Famility-Edition-Personal-Health-
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