Mr. Sesno: How much does
all this cost, and who’s paying for it?
Dr. Clancy:
That’s a really good question. Right now, there is a
pretty big expectation that physicians, hospitals
and others will be bearing a big part of the burden
of the cost. I think it’s real important, though, to
be clear about what we are buying here. Some part of
it is the hardware and software, but vendors and
others will tell you that’s about a third of the
answer. The rest is, how do you change your
practice? And I think Dr. Bentz said it very, very
well earlier. Do I want to do this at this point in
my career? If I’m a young doc and I like playing
with new toys, this is fun. this is cool. In fact, I
probably arrived with my own handheld computer.
Mr. Sesno:
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Clancy:
But the real value of the technology isn’t just
having that electronic medical record. It’s actually
reworking the practice, whether you’re in a small
practice, large one or in a hospital to get the
value out of it.