The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide by Pipes Sally C

Author:Pipes, Sally C. [Pipes, Sally C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy
Published: 2008-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

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Myth Nine: Health Information Technology Is a Silver Bullet for Reducing Costs

a By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care. 1

—President George W. Bush

When it comes to reforming health care, we can all agree on two things: First, more Americans need better access to medical care. Second, one of the easiest ways to improve access is to make that care more affordable.

If only we could agree on how to achieve those goals.

There seem to be as many political solutions to the rising costs of health care as there are “miraculous” weight loss products. So when both sides of the aisle in Congress agree on a way to drive down health care costs, it would seem to be a reason to celebrate.

You might want to read on before you break out the Dom Pérignon. Health Information Technology (HIT) is frequently touted by members of both partes as a silver bullet for reducing rising medical costs. A typical remark comes from, one of the country’s most prominent HIT proponents. In a September 2006 interview, for instance, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich claimed that “[h]ealth IT has been proven to have enormous potential to transform our health system into one marked by efficiency, quality, and safety.”2

Is this initiative, little known to the average citizen, about to bring our skyrocketing bills back down to earth?

Not quite. Unfortunately, you can’t legislate technological innovation.

What’s all the fuss about?

So what exactly is this so-called silver bullet?

On the simplest level, HIT is a concept—the idea that by using technology, we can drive down health costs.

This notion certainly holds true for other industries. Think of personal computers. Prices have plummeted over the past 30 years, even as processing speeds have increased at geometric rates.

Or look at the telephone industry. In 1984, a long-distance phone call cost 28 cents per minute—and mobile phones were the stuff of James Bond movies. Today, I can make a long-distance call for a few pennies on my cell phone—which, incidentally, has more processing power than the 8-bit desktop computer back in 1984.3

There’s no denying that the health care business is lagging in its adoption of the information technologies that have made so many other industries dramatically more efficient.

Next time you walk into a doctor’s office or a hospital, see if the filing system is computerized. There’s a good chance you’ll see a wall lined with thousands of manila folders. That’s common practice in the medical world. In fact, 90 percent of U.S. doctors and more than two-thirds of hospitals still keep their patient records on good-old-fashioned paper.4

Imagine how much money could be saved —and efficiencies created—by accelerating the introduction of technology into the medical world. Translating those benefits over to the health care industry seems like a no-brainer.

Not surprisingly, politicians think to themselves: Why bicker endlessly over modest funding increases and difficult cuts in entitlement programs when we can let computers solve the problem?

And that’s exactly what they’ve decided to do.

An ambitious plan

In 2004, President George W.

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