The Myth of Electronic Healthcare Records

Articles are popping up about the presidential candidates' take on fixing our broken health-care system. People need to consider one piece of information as they make their decisions. The problem with electronic medical records used between physicians' offices and medical centers is an issue of privacy, or more accurately, a lack of privacy. Despite assurances of security, there is no such beast. Any physical attempt to provide hacker-proof security is a myth. Technology simply has not reached that level at this time. Add into the equation the humans operating on the input and output sides, and there is a perfect storm for identity and health record theft. How do I know? Because I began working in medical computer systems in 1980. I also invented and implemented the first commercial computerized patient chart.