A Case of Murder and EHRs -- Chapter Three
A Case of Murder and EHRs
Copyright 2007 by Peter J. Groen and Jaime Nasuti.
Published with permission of the co-authors.
CHAPTER THREE
Congressman Stan Martin, sat at ease waiting for the questions to begin once again. In his tailored pinstriped suit that Kitty had bought for his birthday last year, he felt confident and in no doubt of his decision to run for office. He knew the pressure interviews like this would cause in normal circumstances, but he believed whole-heartedly in what he stand for. Shifting ever so slightly to get more comfortable, the interviewer turned to Stan and asked him if he needed anything before they started the next segment.
Stan knew what was coming and was prepared. He shook off the offer for a drink of water and sat patiently for the cameras to start rolling.
"Welcome back to ABC's Nightly News Special Report...Presidential hopeful Congressman Stan Martin from Louisiana speaks out on his controversial platform calling for the creation of a national health care system and electronic health record (EHR) for every citizen. Congressman Martin, thank you again for joining us this evening.
"Now let's get down to this key issue of your campaign. Let's talk about your stance on health care reform. We've been hearing a lot about an electronic health record throughout your campaign. Help me to understand exactly what an EHR is and why it is so pivotal in improving our nation's health care system."
Stan knew he needed to let people know what he believed and try to win them over to his side. But his response was a carefully crafted presentation of facts. He planned to voice his response in such a way that every American would listen and understand that he knew what he was talking about. He didn't want listeners to tune him out because he spouted off too much data.
"Let me give you a few simple facts about our health care system. Last year, the U.S. spent over $1.8 trillion on health care, which is over 16 percent of our country's Gross National Product. That's a lot of money. Yet the richest country in the world, the United States, ranks at or near the bottom of all industrialized countries in terms of vital health statistics. Of 13 developed countries, the United States ranked 13th in infant mortality, 13th for years of potential life lost, and 10th for age-adjusted mortality.
"Depending on which major studies you read, at least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 200,000 people, die as inpatients in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented. It has also been estimated that there were 199,000 deaths from medical errors in outpatient care. This makes our health care system itself, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. In addition to the cost in terms of human lives, medical errors have been estimated to result in total costs between $17 and $29 billion per year to hospitals nationwide.
"To put this into perspective, this is the equivalent of a World Trade Center disaster every week for over a year and a half, or the crash of two fully loaded 747 aircraft every day of a year.
"We have to do something now!
"One thing we can do that will make a huge difference is to ensure that all health care providers in this country start using EHR systems as soon as possible. The Department of Health & Human Services estimates that use of health information technology and EHR systems in the U.S. could save approximately $140 billion per year, not to mention saving countless lives."
The interviewer wanted to appear balanced and fair-minded in this interview. With obvious shock in his voice he continued with the questions on the cue cards.
"That sounds like a far-fetched fantasy of a highly critical health care professional. However, your background is in public administration, not health care. Can you explain further how you came to your position on the need for a national health care system and use of electronic health records? Why do you feel the U.S. needs such dramatic health care reform?"
Stan responded with sincerity and passion to the questions.
"We all know of the sufferings of the residents in my home state of Louisiana, and our neighboring state of Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call to me and to our country. As you know, I have a very personal interest in making sure we are better prepared next time. My wife was one of the many victims who died as a result of the storm. As you may know, she went into shock due to an allergic reaction to one of the medications she was given. Because her medical record was unavailable, the doctors didn't know about her previous allergic reactions. Because the doctors didn't have that one tiny bit of crucial information, their uninformed actions proved fatal. I don't want that to happen again to others. We need to move toward a national health care system and the availability of lifelong electronic health records for everyone."