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GE unveils electronic medical records initiative
Sindya Bhanoo, The Industry Standard 11.19.2008 ShareThis
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General Electric's healthcare division, in partnership with several top medical institutions, has announced a $200 million initiative to digitize patient medical information, according to reports.
Although electronic medical records have the potential to greatly reduce costs and errors, implementation has been a challenge, due to patient privacy and security issues.
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GE Healthcare wants to provide the technology to enable medical professionals to more efficiently share patient records. The company also hopes to provide physicians with near real-time alerts on cutting-edge research and treatment findings, according to CNN.com. Eventually, the company wants doctors to be able to find the best medical treatments for individual patients based on databases of extensive medical histories, the Associated Press reported.
The company's announcement came at a time when GE Healthcare has been struggling financially. Earnings during the first half of this year fell 4% after declining 3% last year.
GE is hopeful that the decision to invest in healthcare technology is a smart one. "Strategically, it's a great place long term," General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey R. Immelt was quoted as saying in the Associated Press report. "At the end of the day, governments are going to spend money on things that drive productivity," he added. GE's partners include Mayo Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, Montefiore, and the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center in the initiative.
GE is not alone. Other companies are well aware of the potential payoffs, and there are several other new players in this industry, including Google and Microsoft. Google Health lets users store their medical information in a central place, and has partnered with teaching hospitals, including The Cleveland Clinic and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The service is free to both patients and partners. Last month, Aetna tied up with Microsoft's HealthVault to offer customers an electronic "vault" to store medical histories.
