There continues to be an ever-growing stress and emphasis on the vast ground healthcare technology has covered within the arenas of services and healthcare products.

1. Is the US Healthcare System Turning Expensive?
There continues to be an ever-growing stress and emphasis on the vast ground healthcare technology
has covered within the arenas of services and healthcare products. However we continue to recognize
the innovations around medical records management through iPhone and Android medical apps, but we
seem to have neglected a crucial aspect that drives this health system. The U.S. healthcare system has
been facing severe criticism for quite some time now, both from politicians and from healthcare
providers. Doctors are accused of over-treating patients and failing to coordinate care. There are critics
who lament that health care costs are moving up. For some, it is more than twice the national average in
some of the counties with no better outcome than the low-cost regions. A few others attack it from the
technology angle. If market based competition in smartphones and tablets are found to be driving down
costs of these products, why price competition and transparency cannot lower healthcare costs further
down, they ask. They fear that computerization will drive costs in this area upwards, not the other way
around.
The prevailing confusion has paved way for debates among several groups and action from
organizations like the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation (ABIM). The Foundation has
already planned a campaign to push doctors and patients away from several tests and procedures that
are overused and unhelpful. It appears that this move by the ABIM is based on a report that appeared in
2005 when majority of healthcare policies were in nascent stages.
But has Healthcare Costs Really Gone Up?
The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has published a review on the
impact of health information technology (health IT) in its March 2011 issue of Health Affairs. The study
found predominantly positive effects on key aspects of care including quality and efficiency. 92% of
patients/care receivers were found satisfied with their doctors using e-prescribing. 76% reported that
obtaining medications have become easier. 63% reported less medication errors. A negligible
percentage only reported prescription not ready during the pharmacy visits. Also there is a marked
reduction in the number of calls after- clinic hours.
What Does This Indicate?
Electronic health records (EHRs) and Tele-health systems give healthcare providers necessary
information and tools to render better patient care and reduce waste. Providers who are adopting
Accountable Care Organizations and Patient-Centered Medical Homes consider meaningful use of EHRs
critical for improving quality while reducing cost. Improvement in coordination, quality of care and
prevention of hospitalization and costly procedures are the most critical features of certified EHRs.
There are studies that corroborate this fact. E-prescribing has become a cost effective exercise for
doctors and pharmacies and safer for patients.
Tele-health gives clinicians and hospitals access to patient data on real time basis and at the point of
care using wired or wireless technology. It offers value added solutions to the needy in a low cost

2. setting. Post discharge and post-acute patients gain immensely from this new approach with respect to
avoidable visits to the clinics and emergency rooms, lengthy admissions in hospitals and the associated
high costs. Those who speak against the above phenomenon, perhaps fail to observe these.
On the Path towards Improvement
Improving quality of care and preventing unnecessary and costly procedures are ongoing processes.
Therefore, many experts hold the view that Healthcare costs are getting reduced in the larger scheme of
things in the U.S. and it’s to be looked at as a short-term adjustment for long-term care.
Countering the claims of increasing costs, Acroseas has launched a highly cost-efficient Smartphone app
for the iPhone which takes care of one’s patient health records from the point of dictations, to the time
of the final viewing of the transcripts. It’s called Orra Health and can be downloaded for free from here.
To know more, visit here - http://www.acroseas.com/is-the-u-s-healthcare-system-turning-expensive