Originally Published MX November/December 2005

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

The recent destruction and ensuing chaos caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region threw into sharp relief the need for—and current lack of—adequate electronic health record (EHR) systems in the United States. Shortly after Katrina's devastating blow, Janet Dillione, chief operating officer of the healthcare information technology division at Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, PA), issued a statement calling for a national health information infrastructure that provides standardization among healthcare information systems.

Dillione

"The national dialogue about this need has been gaining momentum, and we are hearing examples of safer, more efficient care from our nation's hospitals through the use of electronic health records," she said. "But in the wake of recent natural disasters, it has become obvious that we still have a long way to go."