Do We Really Need All The Paper?

Today was the day for the annual physical examination. There are certain aspects of the "physical" that are not pleasant for anyone, but the thing I enjoy the least is filling out the paperwork. Step one at the doctor’s office is to be presented with a clipboard and forms with fields that are too small and questions that I don’t know the answer to — like the address of my healthcare provider. I said that I had been a patient of the doctor for years and nothing had changed since the last time I filled out the paperwork. "Yes, but we have a new billing service and they require that all patients fill out the paperwork again". It seems like at every visit there is some reason that I have to write down my name, address, phone number, date of birth, etc. After I wrote down the health insurance information from my insurance card, the office assistant asked for my insurance card and then made a photocopy of the front and back of it to put in the manila folder. This is the 21st century?

Before I continue this story I should say that I feel extremely fortunate to have healthcare coverage. It is very unfortunate that many millions of people have no coverage at all. There are multiple reasons for this, but the biggest is the cost. Healthcare costs are spiraling out of control. One of the reasons for that is the paperwork. Not just the forms at the doctor’s office but also prescriptions that the pharmacy can’t read. Another big cost factor is human error. In part because the various processes and sources of data are on paper and are not integrated, there is an increased administrative cost. When medical errors occur, patients (mainly their attorneys) decide to take legal action. This adds tremendously to the cost of healthcare. It is not uncommon for some doctors to incur a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for malpractice insurance. I believe the glass is half full, not half empty. (read more)