Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Former Hospital Worker Arrested for Accessing, Selling Patient Records. Following a 10-month investigation, the FBI has arrested a former employee of Florida Hospital Celebration Health for accessing patients' emergency department records and selling them to a solicitor for attorneys and chiropractors, WFTV reports (WFTV, 8/17).
Details of Breach Dale Munroe -- who registered ED patients at Celebration Health -- allegedly accessed the files of patients who were treated for injuries resulting from automobile accidents at multiple hospitals across the state, according to the FBI investigation (Goedert, Health Data Management, 8/22). According to the complaint in U.S.A. v. Munroe, Munroe accessed about 763,000 patient records from late 2009 through mid-2011. The complaint stated that Munroe sold the information to firms that then contacted the patients and asked if they needed a referral to a lawyer or chiropractor. Munroe and his wife allegedly were paid approximately $10,000 for information from the records. Hospital, Authorities Respond The hospital then:
Hospital Employees May Have Sold Patient Data - Technology & science - Security. Hospital Employee Fired for Accessing Records. The benefits and challenges of an electronic medical record: much more than a "word-processed" patient chart. A Doctor's Problem With Electronic Records. Medicare Billing Rises at Hospitals With Electronic Records. But, in reality, the move to electronic health records may be contributing to billions of dollars in higher costs for , private insurers and patients by making it easier for hospitals and physicians to bill more for their services, whether or not they provide additional care.
Hospitals received $1 billion more in Medicare reimbursements in 2010 than they did five years earlier, at least in part by changing the billing codes they assign to patients in emergency rooms, according to a New York Times analysis of Medicare data from the American Hospital Directory. Regulators say physicians have changed the way they bill for office visits similarly, increasing their payments by billions of dollars as well.
For instance, the portion of patients that the emergency department at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare in Utica, N.Y., claimed required the highest levels of treatment — and thus higher reimbursements — rose 43 percent in 2009. Critics say the abuses are widespread. E-Health records don't always equal reduced costs. A study published in Health Affairs found that electronic health records don't necessarily lead to reducing health care spending or fewer diagnostic tests.
Kaiser Health News: Study: E-Health Records Don't Deter Testing, Spending Electronic health records have long been touted by Democrats and Republicans alike as a sure-fire way to lower health spending. When doctors have easy electronic access to a patient's records, advocates argue, they are less likely to order the duplicative and unnecessary tests that drive up the cost of health care in America (Gold, 3/5). Boston Globe: Doctors May Order More -- Not Fewer -- Imaging Tests With Electronic Access To Results, Study Finds Electronic health records may not be as effective as expected at reducing the number of costly and unnecessary tests doctors order for their patients, a study published Monday in Health Affairs found. NewsHour: New Study Challenges Whether Electronic Records Cut Health Costs.