Imagine a future where there are no medical insurance forms - just a plastic card passed through a mechanical reader.
Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan said Tuesday that legislation to lay the legal foundation for a standardized computer system of billing and patient record-keeping could save $24 billion annually by the end of the century.But the bill, part of President Bush's health reform package, is not likely to be passed before the election.
"Consumers will appreciate the fact that there will be fewer complex forms to fill out, fewer hassles, less red tape and a lot less confusion between them and providers over bill payment and eligibility," said Sullivan.
The bill would establish standardized computer languages, terminology and forms so hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and the government can instantly pass information back and forth elec-tronically.
Administration officials said the bill does not try to establish the computer system by law but tries to remove some of the barriers to setting one up.
Sullivan's deputy, Kevin Moley, said the administration looks for the day when patients with private insurance or Medicare go to a doctor's office or hospital and hand over a card that looks like a credit card with a magnetic stripe on the back. The card is slid through a reader and up pops the patient's insurance information. Or, with the patient's personal security code entered, up pops the individual's medical records.