Well, that's a relief.
From the Reuters wire:
Bush Says He Has Cure for Illegible Prescriptions
May 27, 9:22 PM (ET)By Caren Bohan
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - President Bush, taking on Democrat John Kerry over health issues, pitched a plan on Thursday to expand the use of technology in medicine -- including a cure for doctors' illegible handwriting.
Bush touted a goal of storing most Americans' medical records in electronic form within 10 years, saying that would reduce paperwork costs and cut down on medical errors.
"Docs are still spending a lot of time writing things on paper. And sometimes it's difficult to read their handwriting," Bush told an audience at Vanderbilt University in the election battleground state of Tennessee.
Well... isn't that nice. Sure, Bush has made a few mistakes, and we have a few other things to worry about right now, but at least those pesky docs (note the folksy term) won't be scribblin' them perscripshuns no more.
Oh yes -- and anyone who's spent time fighting with a customer support rep whose answer is "well, it's that way in the computer..." will share my healthy skepticism that computerization will inherently cut down on medical errors.
Robert Jahrling, on Friday, May 28, 2004 at 6:41 AM:
My former HMO switched to electronic records about a year ago. Even though the software itself was pretty horrible, and the doctors all hated it (I never heard a nurse complain about it), it did actually make the process of going to the doctor a lot easier. There was no more "Take this to the lab, bring back what they give you, check in again, then the doctor will give you the referral you need for the specialist, but you'll need to go to the specialist's office to make an appointment and don't forget the paperwork."
But this doesn't need to be legislated, fercryinoutloud. Republicans are supposed to be in favor of LESS legislation. This is just another case of hurling technology and government intervention at something that just plain doesn't need either one.