Medical Advocacy Blog A Mashup of Art, Outrage and Patient Advocacy

The Medical Advocacy Blog chronicles one women’s attempt to participate and advocate in the care of her terminally ill husband, and the wider implications of the Electronic Health Record.

I now sit in meetings for hours and watch power point lectures about electronic medical records. I listen to people dissect HIPPA regulations and incentive time tables. I hear arguments comparing ICD-9 code to ICD-10. And sadly, I hear many people tell me that patients should never see the entire medical record. I think they have no concept of the word meaning in “Meaningful Use.” For too long the medical record has been considered a billing document or a legal document: property of the physician or institution, instead of what it is, the story of the patient. “Meaningful Use” is not just a government buzz word or an unrealistic timetable of obligation, it is that childhood question: “What is the moral of this story?”