Slashdot Mirror
Senate Bill Calls For Open Source Electronic Health Records
An anonymous reader optimistically writes that new legislation has been introduced in the Senate that would call for a nationwide adoption of electronic health records built on open source. The bill does not seek to supplant proprietary alternatives, but instead to either augment or offer a cost effective alternative. "'We need advancements in health information technology across the board to improve the quality of care Americans receive,' said Senator Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care. 'To make this happen, we need universal access to affordable and interoperable health information technology — from small, rural health clinics to large, urban hospitals.'"
But what the Government should work on (and it's their job to do so) is making sure there is a single open standard format for the records, so that they can be used and transfered between providers with different systems. Otherwise electronic documents can easily end up worse than paper.
Agreed. Definitely a job for ISO!
as Microsoft just announced Doctor's Office 2009.
This whole thing reminds me of this absolutely classic Dilbert...
http://tijil.org/gallery/v/dilbert-eunuch-c.jpg.html