“I took my cat to her first appointment with a new vet recently and caught a glimpse of what a practice using a full electronic health record (EHR) might look like for human patients, once meaningful use incentives kick in next year.
My cat’s former vet had already faxed over all her records to the new clinic, which I had requested via telephone the morning of the planned appointment. I’m assuming there weren’t any HIPAA compliance concerns, because the vet’s office cheerfully informed me they’d get right on it. Once at the new clinic, I did have to fill out a brief, one-page sheet of owner information that was immediately entered into the electronic health record system by the receptionist.”
Article
Jean DerGurahian, Health IT Pulse, 30 December 2010
I also pointed out that we should have a look at what is happening in the animal care world:
“But it needs an open mind to be able to see these possibilities. It is amazing to see that we spend so much time, money and discussions on the development of an EHR, whereas a fully functional example already exists and has been in use for many years worldwide, monitoring subjects from before conception till after death, taking into account full family history and environmental aspects: the tags in cows’ ears, the cattle register.”
Bos L, Kun L. Just another journal? No, a different one! Health Technol. [Internet]. 2010 Nov 5;Online first. Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/w8383115811w8g7g/fulltext.pdf.