Electronic medical records to be delayed

The EMR initiative was to benefit insurers by enabling easier access to data and faster settlement of claims

Electronic medical records (EMR), which would enable health care providers to have a coded integrated health care system, may take longer to be implemented, with infrastructure still being put in place. This initiative was to benefit insurers by enabling easier access to data and faster settlement of claims.

The EMR concept was mooted two years ago and had talked of making all medical records of customers to be available in an electronic format. It was said that once these records were in place, the data would be shared with insurance companies.

"The current government is still to take a final call on EMR. We as an industry have had discussions on this issue with the authorities, however the entire process of digitisation has not yet begun nationally," said a senior general insurance executive.

According to the April 2013 recommendations of the EMR Standards Committee, patients had the privileges to restrict access to and disclosure of individually identifiable health information.

Insurers are of the view that access to customer data would follow an implementation pathway. At a later stage, this would mean that an insurance company could ask for particular data at time of claims or during procedures.

EMR is a repository of information regarding the health of an individual that is stored in an electronic form and can be transmitted from one user to the other, in an authorised format and code. EMR stores different data including a patient's detailed medical history, hospital charges, health insurance details among others.

According to a health insurer, the data would be formatted and pricing for each ailment can also be made. However, it is still not clear to what extent medical data can be shared with insurance companies.

With privacy issues being on the forefront, it is anticipated that insurers would not be given complete immediate access to information. However, for standard surgeries, data would be made available.