President Bush touted electronic health records in his February 2006 State of the Union address. But what exactly is an electronic health record? How can it benefit the average American? And if, as proponents maintain, electronic health records save lives, why aren’t they being fully utilized?

The move toward electronic health records is often thought of as simply replacing paper. But it is actually the process of taking all patient data and placing them right at physicians’ fingertips. This data include individual files, X-ray films and the patient’s complete medical history -- from past surgeries and blood tests, allergies to ultrasound exams.

While some of our nation’s hospitals and medical centers have begun transitioning to electronic health records, most have not. Doctors say we need only look to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina to see why paper records can prove unreliable. Flood waters rendered many patient’s medical history unavailable and unreadable. With secure, electronic records, patients would always have a back up.

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  Siemens on TV: Electronic Health Records Help Save Lives, Windows Media Player for DSL/Cable/T1[19.27 MB]
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