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CLEAR Temp: 59 °F Wind: NE at 6 mph Monday, May 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 15, 2003 Internet may play important role in accessing health-care info ‘E-health’ would give people information that would save them money By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Someday in the not-too-distant future, you may trade e-mail messages with your doctor and use your home computer to schedule appointments and look at medical records. Soaring health-care costs will encourage hospitals, physicians and consumers to expand the Internet’s role in medicine, James Harker said during the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County’s Monday Forum. Harker, regional planning director for Providence Health System in Oregon, said consumers’ insatiable appetite for medical information also will force the health-care system to be more efficient. Rising health-insurance costs will force individuals to take more responsibility for their health care, Harker said, because employers cannot swallow rising insurance premiums indefinitely. People will appreciate "e-health" because it will give them information that saves them money. "Information is the most precious good in any economy," Harker said. "Information is something consumers need if they’re going to play an appropriate role in health care. He said the Internet won’t replace physicians, but the health-care system will develop "customer friendly, Web-based solutions" that improve the quality of service and reduce costs. Harker said health care must become more efficient because medical spending is projected to rise to nearly 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product by 2010. That’s more than twice the amount spent on health care (8 percent) as recently as 1970. In the Rogue Valley, health-care spending will rise significantly as the area continues to attract new retirees. Much of the routine work of scheduling and consultation will be transferred to the Internet, Harker said. He spoke of a communications system that would connect consumers to their physicians and their health records as well as hospitals through Internet sites with password protection and data encryption to ensure confidentiality. "You would get a message (on your home e-mail) to sign in to (the protected site) to get your message." The system would give patients access to their extended medical history and include information such as laboratory results and prescription records over time. It might also include features such as a 24-hour advice line to cut back on emergency-room use. Someone who gashed a finger at 7 p.m., for example, could call an advice nurse to decide whether the accident really required a trip to the emergency room. If the nurse determined the patient could wait until the following day, she could use her computer to schedule an appointment with the patient’s doctor for the next day. In questions following his presentation, Harker acknowledged all the proposed models have shortcomings. They would serve only people who have computers and feel comfortable using them. Computer compatibility also would be a major issue. Doctors and hospitals would all have to use compatible programs to make the system most efficient, but right now there is no universal standard program. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S