Re: Would patients like to be able to email their doctors?

From: Carey Gregory (tiredofspam123_at_comcast.net)
Date: 12/18/04 

Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 02:08:40 -0500

"cicero" <maisenberg@comcast.net> wrote:

>No, I can not name ONE that has the comparable challenges--or potential
>payoff in improved quality of life or reduction in unnecessary costs
>than health care.

I can see the benefits, but I'm not so sure I'd go that far.

>Before you go flaming people on a post,

I didn't flame you. Quite the contrary.

>why don't you read and
>understand the background--the Markle reports, the HHS ONCHIT US health
>vision paper, or the Request for Information now open in the NHII/NHIN
>proceeding. Then, contribute your view somewhere it will matte--you
>will not persuade me to STOP working towards this--so why don't you see
>if can add some value instead of heckling the concept.

How about you accept a few tough questions and don't take them so
personally?

My career has been in the computer industry for 20+ years. I've read all
the reports you can name and seen equally zealous predictions decades ago,
virtually all of which panned out to be far less beneficial and far more
difficult than predicted. More importantly, I've seen what it actually
takes to implement systems of this size and complexity. What you call
heckling I call stark reality. The funding isn't there, the standards
aren't there, and the proof it's worth doing isn't there. And those are the
easy problems. The tough problems are how to develop data interchange
standards, convince manufacturers and providers to adopt them, find
customers willing to pay for it, and convince the gov't to let it all
happen.

But if you're dead set on a crusade, by all means continue. Who knows, 20
years from now you might have your name attached to a wondrous thing.

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