Medical News

Electrocardiogram (EKG) tests help doctors identify and diagnose present or past heart abnormalities. For those with a history of heart disease or anyone over 40, they are an important part of any doctor visit. Electrodes attached to strategic locations on the patient’s body measure the heart’s electrical impulses which are displayed on a computer monitor and then printed. Physicians then take the resulting data to interpret the health of the heart in an effort to identify and circumvent heart disease.

Make no mistake about it. The conversion to electronic medical records will revolutionize the medical community, increasing the access to information on a universal scale that will improve healthcare and communication. At the same time, however, these changes are monumental, posing enormous costs to hospitals who struggle to make the change. However, as the need echoes throughout Washington and the medical community, increasing supplies to meet the demand will push costs down to make the conversion more affordable. Moreover, the switch is inevitable.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 sets aside about $19 billion for physicians to adapt electronic medical records, revolutionizing the field of medicine by putting the entire nation on the same medical page, or more aptly, computer screen. What are medical records and the issues involved?

Electronic Medical Records Cut Costs and Improve Care by  Universalizing Medical Information