The Ghosts of Medical Past
The holidays are upon us, and if your office is anything like editorial ground zero at ADVANCE, that means food is in ample supply. We've decked the halls with noshes and nibbles, all culminating at a central table that's been overflowing with treats since 8 a.m. But venturing over to said table runs the risk of an awkward encounter-you know, those few silent minutes you spend next to a fellow employee as you pile cookies and chips on your red paper plate. Luckily, I came across an unusual news tidbit that's the perfect conversation starter in an HIM department-or, in my case, in an office that sets Google Alerts for HIPAA changes.
Over in jolly old England, Kingston University has collaborated with Great Ormond Street Hospital to put medical records from the 19th and early 20th century online. (And you thought your record system was ancient.) The digitized files are intended to help historians and researchers and even amateur genealogists learn more about the lives of ill or injured children, but I think it's pretty darn fascinating from a medical records standpoint.
With HIT and EHR hogging the spotlight and hospitals from Hawaii to Maine wondering how to go electronic without going bankrupt, it's a bit of a reality check to realize that hospitals can indeed survive using only paper. And by the looks of the article, they did a pretty good job at record keeping. The recently digitized files-the first of such historic magnitude-provide patients' names, ages, addresses, symptoms and outcomes, plus details about the hospital and its benefactors. Not too shabby for the turn of the century.
The success or failure of HIT to solve (some of) our problems in health care has yet to be seen, but perhaps we need to take a step back and appreciate the moments when a simple approach works just fine. It's like our dependence on cell phones; everyone wonders how we lived without them. But, believe it or not, we survived with only pay phones. We even got by with letters.
Modern technology is faster and more convenient, but we shouldn't knock what's worked in the past. By bringing records from the 1800s into the 21st century, the university and hospital may help bring old recordkeeping new clout-or least garner you an amused head nod across the refreshment table.