[PLUG] Patient records on Live CD

Keith Lofstrom keithl at kl-ic.com
Thu Oct 20 20:07:53 UTC 2011


On Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 09:30:44AM -0700, Paul Heinlein wrote:
> >How does this sound?  Would you like your own doctor to do something 
> >like this?
> 
> Unless I specifically requested electronic records, I don't think that 
> would be my first choice. I'd rather have paper:
> 
>  * I can easily make copies for other care providers
>  * I don't need to know anything about computers
>  * It fits better with other filed medical records
>  * I don't have to remember a password

Paper will indeed be available, for the cost of creating it.
My bank charges $10 a month for paper statements, two sheets
of printed paper in a machine-stuffed envelope and bulk 
mailed.  I'm guessing the handling and printing of the 40 or
so pages of the average patient chart would cost about $30,
given the office overhead (about $200 per hour).  With the
right equipment, a CD would be easier to produce.

Note that some chart folders contain more than 500 pages. 
Elderly patients after chemotherapy, for example.  The thicker
the chart, the frailer the patient.  Above 300 pages or so, the
patient is unlikely to be able to lift their own patient chart.

But it is rare for patients to request their charts for 
themselves.  They typically want them to give to another
doctor, either for specialty treatment or for transferring
care.  How many of you have your current patient chart from
your own doctor?  

In any case, other doctors will want an electronic version.
Even if they run a paper office (and those are disappearing
rapidly), they will print out only the pages they need
immediately, and put the CD in the chart folder.  If you
have your chart "just in case", perhaps to take with you
on vacation, a CD in a clamshell case is easier to manage
than paper.  The data can be moved securely over the internet,
but that is beyond the competence of most medical staff.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs



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