The Smart Med Card: Our Nation's Hope

On my morning digital stroll through the internet highways and byways, I came across a thought-provoking article from TheHill.com titled:

Adopting Electronic Health Records Will Cut Costs

Naturally, since this is a proponent to the digital-age blog, I pulled over the metaphorical car.

‘In February 2009, Congress included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act $36 billion in funding that will provide incentive payments to healthcare providers and organizations to encourage them to adopt health information technology. This technology aims to transform healthcare by improving quality and reducing costs, most significantly through the adoption of electronic health records.’ [1]

This makes sense so far. We know the benefits and the efficiency of automating many of our tasks. That’s why we continually invest so much into switching from analog to digital task-management. Well, a little further down the page, I came across the following:

‘A recent study conducted by Harvard Medical School and published by the American Journal of Medicine stated, “As currently implemented, hospital computing might modestly improve process measures of quality but does not reduce administrative or overall costs.”’ [1]

So, to most of us reading this, here is that moment where we go D’OH! Again we are throwing money away that our country doesn’t have on a go-nowhere investment. Well, actually, remember when we learned ‘Government for the people BY the people – here is that moment where it comes back to you.

The amount of money our Government is investing is in fact necessary and just. In reality they brought the coal and the lighter fluid to the cookout, but the kicker is, we can’t grill until someone lights the fire – and we’re the ones with the matches. In order for this whole process to lock into place, we as consumers of the healthcare industry have to willingly take some of the burden of healthcare management off of their shoulders and onto ours. We live with our family and ourselves day to day – we know the back of our hand like the back of our other hand…or something to that effect – but doctors and nurses – unless we hand them a medical-journal of our lives, the true power of Electronic Health Records as well as efficient and high-quality healthcare just isn’t a reality.

‘Our current system has been built around providers, insurers, the government and employers — not around consumers. But the majority of health decisions are made at home, and the daily choices individuals make can affect what everyone in the system pays for healthcare. By empowering consumers with the right information, they can make more informed decisions and work with healthcare providers to more effectively manage their health.’ [1]

In short, The Smart Med Card is the exact tool that they are talking about that will be the catalyst to cut costs and level the field of healthcare’s accessibility to more and more people. We as consumers are going to need to accept the tools given to us, i.e. The Smart Med Card, and use them wisely and diligently. 

These USB Smart Emergency Medical IDs are our ticket to that affordable and available healthcare system that we have been after for so long.

So, fellow readers, I urge you to strongly consider this post as your awakening to how we can all look forward to a fair and respectable healthcare system.

Sources Cited:

[1] Neupert, Peter, and Alfred Spector. "Adopting Electronic Health Records Will Cut Costs." TheHill.com. 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. <http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/83267-adopting-electronic-health-records-will-cut-costs>.