Electronic Health Records

Patients—and Their Prescriptions—Are Tracked

ST. PAUL, Minn.—It’s bad enough that Congress and the Obama administration forced government-mandated electronic health records (EHRs) on physicians and patients around the country. But the government also said EHRs had to be used “meaningfully”—which is to say, the way federal officials declare they must be used.

Will Trump Administration Restore Consent to HIPAA?

HEALTH FREEDOM WATCH

Volume 21: Issue 3: 3rd Quarter 2018

Government EHRs—The High Cost of Coercion

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Stories abound about how Americans travel to other countries for medical treatment or surgeries. Do these citizens choose international care because it is better? Not necessarily. Because the recovery is faster? Not likely. It’s because the price of medical services is often higher in the U.S.—and part of the problem, says Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), is the government-mandated electronic health record (EHR). 

Doctors and Nurses Burning Out Because of Mandated Electronic Health Records

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Many factors cause doctors to give up medicine, but none more prevalent than those that take physicians away from doing their true job—taking care of patients.

Labor Day is just around the corner, and medical professionals around the country are taking a hard look at how their occupations have changed. A recent survey on physician burnout and stress found that a fifth of doctors cited electronic health records (EHRs) as the top factor contributing to their stress. Earlier this month, two physicians at the University of California school of medicine suggested the EHR mandate is the most likely reason 54.4 percent of physicians are experiencing burnout.

The 22-Year HIPAA ‘Privacy’ Misnomer

ST. PAUL, Minn.—For more than two decades, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its federal rule have been touted as a way to keep patients’ personal medical information private. 

But HIPAA has been under a “privacy” misnomer for 22 years, and in fact, doesn’t protect patient privacy at all. 

Health Care Data Breaches Put the Private Medical info of Millions of Americans in Jeopardy

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Well over 1 million patients are the latest victims of a huge health care data breach. Just last week, UnityPoint Health notified 1.4 million patients that their records may have been breached when its business system was compromised by a phishing attack, reported Healthcare IT News.

The Watched Are Never Free

ST. PAUL, Minn.—It’s impossible for patients and doctors to have an effective relationship when they are being watched. The patient will always try to protect themselves if they think they are being monitored or surveilled, and therefore won’t be entirely open and transparent with their doctor. 

Electronic Health Records Turn Doctors Away from Patients and Into Data Clerks

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Electronic health records (EHRs) have infringed upon the patient-doctor relationship in innumerable ways, but none more glaring than how EHRs have turned doctors away from patients and into data clerks. 

It’s just the tip of the iceberg of how the mandated, government-certified EHR technology has negatively affected doctors and patients. 

BUSTED: The Myth of High-Cost End-of-Life Care

Is care at the end of life a waste of money? It has often been said, “Twenty-five percent of spending occurs in the last year of life.” The point of this claim is that we’re wasting money on those who are dying. It further supports rationing care to the elderly; redistributing dollars from the elderly to the young; and physician-facilitated suicide and euthanasia.

AVAILABLE TODAY: New Book 'Big Brother in the Exam Room' launched at FreedomFest

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Health care has already found its way into the narrative surrounding President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, announced less than 48 hours ago. But regardless of how SCOTUS may impact future health care policy, there are real threats to patientstoday, including third-party controls over care, surveillance, data collection and privacy invasions—much of it through electronic health record (EHR) systems found in a majority of doctor’s offices and hospitals around the country.