RDAC Position
The RDAC supports improvements to medical records systems to provide easier access to records from different facilities for patients and providers.
Issue
Many Utahns receive medical care from multiple providers in different hospital or health care systems. In general, each system has set up its own medical record database. Thus, it is not always straightforward for providers and patients to access patient records, and the formats of the records also vary and make it more difficult to compare information from various dates and facilities.
One frequently encountered situation is that provider notes, lab results, imaging results, and other records are not always easily shared between systems. As a result, tests may be repeated unnecessarily, provider and patient time may be used inefficiently, appropriate care may be delayed or skipped entirely, and inappropriate care may be delivered.
Rare disease patients tend to have complex medical histories and often see many health care providers, making the lack of consistent access to their records even more of a problem than for other patients and providers.
Facilitating information sharing between hospital and health care systems would increase efficiency in providing care and simplify the burdens that both providers and patients face in managing care. It would be preferable to have a single user interface, data presentation format, and login arrangement that providers and patients can use to access records ordered by different providers and obtained at different facilities. Of course, protections need to be included to guarantee patient privacy and compliance with HIPAA requirements.
