Americans should have a single EHR that follows them throughout their lives, said ONC Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Technology Reform John Fleming, MD, according to FedScoop.
Dr. Fleming made his comment at an event hosted by Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown Law. "I believe every American should have a single, unified electronic health record system that resides in the cloud and is under full control of the patient, of the individual, of the American," he said, according to FedScoop.
Here are three highlights.
1. Dr. Fleming said patients should manage and have access to their own medical record, although physicians should also have a version.
2. He said two challenges to address before instituting this type of unified system are IT security and interoperability.
3. Despite the proposed 2018 budget cut to ONC, Dr. Fleming remains hopeful.
"[W]e've got the world's experts, in some case, tackling [interoperability]. But I am convinced that someday we will solve that problem,” Dr. Fleming said, according to FedScoop.
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