Posted on 06/05/2005 10:12:00 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Database? What database?
By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 6, 2005
Newt Gingrich thinks health care is more efficient with more government.
So do Hillary Rodham Clinton, Patrick Kennedy and Tim Murphy. Is their bias based on government's record of hyper-efficiency running Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs hospitals?
Maybe they simply are wiser than others.
Mr. Gingrich, a Georgia Republican, had been speaker of the House of Representatives. Mrs. Clinton is a Democrat representing New York in the Senate. Rep. Kennedy is a Rhode Island Democrat and Rep. Murphy, a Republican of Upper St. Clair.
They have hooked up to put everyone's medical records in cyberspace -- accessible by patients, doctors, nurses, hospitals, insurance companies and hackers hoping to learn everything about you -- including your Social Security number.
Dr. Murphy (he's a child psychologist) and Mr. Kennedy are co-sponsors of the "21st Century Health Information Act." It mandates all medical records be made Internet-friendly -- "Electronic medical records allow patients' medical history, tests (X-rays, MRIs, CT scans), and treatments (such as films of surgery) to be stored and accessed in a secure, confidential manner." Initial cost of the carrots for compliance: $50 million. Maybe there are Web sites as secure as your doctor's office where all those multicolor medical file folders are stored and accessed only by those you know and trust.
Murphy sounds reassuring.
"The main point is to move health care out of the paper and pencil age," he said. He insisted the act does not create a national database. It just converts systems for easier access, Murphy said. "There is no database."
Not yet.
But the bill is a first step to a national database, according to David Merritt, project director of Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation. Its Web site clearly indicates the goal is....
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
The last vestige or privacy: your medical records, now available to all.
It's a sure sign the world is ending..
Oh they'll just create more draconian laws for the now-mandatory keeping of these online databases. So that when a doctor's office gets 0wned, they blame what... the policy? The hacker? Naw, the doctor.
"secure, confidental manner", yeah, right. When was the last time any government computer systems were secure and confidental.
I am so sick of the government thinking they can do things better when in all actuality they screw everything up they touch.
Someone steals your identity, and suddenly you have a history of alcoholism, depression, ADD, and STDs.
Do people wonder why the nosy medical questionaires ask about gun ownership?
Among the stories were:
USA Today, 5/11/05 – “Former foes Clinton, Gingrich band up on health care plan”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/12/05 – “Electronic medical records the goal of Murphy’s bill”
Information Week, 5/11/05 – “What Do Newt Gingrich and Hillary Clinton Agree On? Fed Money for Health IT”
Associated Press, 5/11/05 – “Clinton, Gingrich Unite on Health Care” (Washington Post version; original story picked up by at least 50 news outlets nationally)
Associated Press, 5/12/05 – “Clinton, Gingrich Team Up on Health Care” (Washington Post version; original story picked up by at least 23 news outlets)
Knight-Ridder, 5/12/05 – “Unlikely pals push medical-records measure” (Seattle Times version; original story picked up by at least 25 news outlets)
The New York Times, (5/12/05) – “Gingrich and Clinton Agree: Let’s Share”
Daily News (New York), 5/12/05 – “Hil & Newt, It’s a Hoot! Old Rivals Team Up on Healthcare Campaign”
Providence Journal (Rhode Island), 5/12/05 – “Gingrich, Clinton: Medical Clipboards Must Go”
CNSNews.com, 5/12/05 – “Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich Team Up on Medical Data Bill”
KaiserNetwork.org, 5/12/05 – “Sen. Clinton, Former House Speaker Gingrich Team Up on Health IT Legislation”
New York Times, 5/13/05 – “Oddly, Hillary and, Yes, Newt, Agree to Agree”
Somehow I think this has something to do with Hilly's ultimate plan to control our healthcare. All the other bozos have some other public relations motive. We should be afraid of this if she's anywhere near it.
I signed for the TM registry, and like you, I enjoy the lack of calls.
I used to tell them I was a tenant ( I really wasnt).As soon as they heard I wasnt the homeowner,click.Worked every time.
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