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Cutting waste and reducing deadly preventable medical errors,
that’s why President Obama and former President Bush
are advocates of electronic health records for every American.
The current administration hopes it will happen by 2015.
A local survivor who wrote about her cancer journey
on the Buddy Check 9 blog four years ago
experienced the transition from paper to electronic medical records.
The difference it made for her is the subject of today’s Buddy Check 9 Report.
Well, in 2004 I received a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer,
which is a very rare but very virulent form of breast cancer.
Three weeks after learning that shocking news, Pam Krum started chemotherapy.
Complicating matters, she was 22 weeks pregnant.
Pam eventually delivered a healthy daughter, Grace, at 36 weeks.
I was just overjoyed and I was so thankful.
But the new mom had to quickly get back to the tough job of surviving cancer.
The day after Grace was born Pam was back at Georgetown Lombardi
to begin a different round of chemo.
Then I had surgeries, I had radiation, I had subsequent surgeries after that.
And her insurance company required all of her mammograms be done in Virginia,
not at Georgetown.
That meant she spent a lot of time driving 35 miles back and forth from Virginia to D.C.
taking her films and meds to all of her appointments.
So it was very hectic.
Pam’s new norm until about two years ago.
Then Georgetown made the transition from paper to electric medical record keeping.
That meant all of Pam’s medical paper trail was now on computer just a mouse click away.
If I need something or have a question about a study that she had done
or a blood test that she had done, I have very ready access to it.
Hi, Doctor Liu. -Hi, how are you?
Pam gets a break and her doctors believe it helps them provide even better medical care.
Electronic medical records are a terrific boon for consumers
provided that they’re covered by National Privacy Laws.
But Pam Dixon with the World Privacy Forum says
consumers run into risk when their records are not operated by a healthcare provider
and covered on the HIPAA.
She spoke to me via Skype from California.
So, for example, a commercial company may have an electronic medical care record
that they offer to you, it can be free but also can be, for example, ad supported.
And, more likely, those private records could be disclosed to the general public or marketers.
That’s not a concern for Pam Krum.
Electronic record keeping at Georgetown has given her peace of mind.
It’s helped me to relax and focus on wellness
as opposed to treatment and medical records.
And you can Pam is doing very well.
In fact, she’s a mentor at Georgetown to other breast cancer patients.
Now, another piece of advice from privacy expert Pam Dixon,
get a copy of your healthcare records in whatever form and keep them on file.
If there’s ever an identity theft crisis – problem, rather,
it’s hard to get your records after the fact.
Also, after you access your electronic healthcare records,
make sure you clean out or empty your browser then reset it.
To see this story again, click on Buddy Check 9 at WUSA9.com,
and if Buddy Check has made a difference in our life,
I’d like to share your story. E-mail me at aroane@wusa9.com.