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The use of bone mass screening to prevent fractures
Author(s) -
Flicker Leon
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1991.tb121002.x
Subject(s) - flicker , citation , medicine , library science , gerontology , psychology , family medicine , computer science , computer graphics (images)
The slOWly increasing use of computers in the management of general medical practices may be greatly accelerated if new technologies for the storage and transfer of information are introduced. Electronic data interchange promises to speed the transfer of medical data, insurance information and payments. Smart cards promise a portable, up-to-date, confidential medical record that can be carried by patients. However attractive these new systems may be to computer suppliers and government bureaucracies, it is not certain that they will be as attractive for the general practitioners who will be required to implement the changes. Smart cards may exacerbate problems with the ownership and privacy of data, rather than guaranteeing confidentiality and control. Data exchange through a computer network may allow many information services not actually essential to general practice, while creating serious new possibilities for breaches of privacy. Costs in implementing the new technologies for general practices may outweigh any gains in efficiency, which could in any case be achieved through better use of paper records. The Health Insurance Commission may see advantages in the collection of data on the diagnoses of patients that can be used in epidemiological studies and in the control of overservicing, but there will be practicallimitations on the reliability of the data collected by this means. General practitioners should carefully consider their attitude to these new technologies before suppliers, governments and others make their record-keeping decisions for them. (Med J Aust 1991; 154: 140-144) A ustralian medical practices have been following a trend towards the introduction of computer technology into practice management. Computers have been in use in large general practices for over a decade. The financial administration of health care via health insurance funds was computerised before the early days of the first Medibank. Recently a new joint venture company, Mednetwork Systems Pty Limited, has been formed by IBM, Medibank Private and the Australasian Medical Publishing Company Limited (AMPCo) to develop and promote a Health Services Network servlce.v' ln the United Kingdom, a trial is taking place of smart cards for the transfer of patient tntormation' and the developers of this technology, Bull HN Information Systems, are currently promoting this technology in the Australian market. Both of these computer technologies promise improvements in the provision and management of health care. The history of computing includes many great successes and turning points, but it also contains many unfulfilled promises. The medical profession has been criticised at times for introducing new diagnostic and treatment technologies without considering the social and economic consequences of those technologies. It may now be about to be on the receiving end of some new technology, for information management, with social and economic consequences that have not been fully analysed and discussed by the