Marriott E-Health Record System Spots Medical Mishaps

Run by Aetna, Dr. makes some good points here...he gets alerts on patients he doesn't even know and suggests the patients should be notified first...and then once more there's the liability question down the road, if the patient was alerted and did not react or react soon enough, will they be denied coverage...that is the big question in every consumer's mind..program good in theory but with liability looming and dividends at stake, can a plan run by insurers succeed?  And the physician also receives alerts to potentially change the patient to a generic drug as well...sure there will be some good results, but how does this affect care later down the road if the data determines the patient or physician for that matter exceeded a selected time frame?  BD     

Also, King suggests that patients receive the alerts even before the doctor is notified. "Patients need to be responsible for their health," he says. Right now, he says, he currently receives alerts from some of his patient's insurers, especially when those companies are interested in changing a patient's prescription drug from a name brand to less expensive generic, he says.

Occasionally, King has received alerts from insurers about patients he hasn't even met or treated, he says. When incidents like that happen, "it opens a Pandora's box," about liability he says, another reason why patients should be the first alerted to suggestions about alternative treatments, additional tests, or other concerns.

Marriott E-Health Record System Spots Medical Mishaps -- Electronic Health Record