Like it or not, electronic medical records are now the norm in almost all medical environments. They have inherent problems, as outlined in other Chemnick Moen Greenstreet blogposts. Some folks think they facilitate the exchange of information between providers so that better care is provided. Others point out the problems with “cut and paste” use of standardized descriptions of medical care, including operative reports.
A recent study showed a new use for such records. The amount of electronic data on patients in a large hospital system is staggering. Researchers recently developed an algorithm to flag potentially undiagnosed cases of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a condition in which there is an inherited tendency to have high cholesterol levels.
The researchers applied the algorithm to the electronic medical records at a single medical center. The goal was to identify patients with this problem who have not been diagnosed, and to do so before they have a cardiac event. In the review of the medical center’s electronic medical records, totaling almost two million records, they found 46 patients with definite FH, 289 with probable FH, and 649 with possible FH.
One of the researchers said: “We decided to be proactive in screening. We wanted to find a way within the [electronic medical records] to streamline the process so we can catch these people earlier, rather than after an event that could be fatal.”
In our society, there is a great deal of concern about the massive amount of individual data being gathered through social media. The fear is that the data is being mined by those looking to make money and also by those looking to cause harm to our society.
This study showed that the mining of large amounts of individual data on peoples’ medical issues may, in some cases, result in better care and saved lives. Whether that outcome helps to justify the massive accumulation of data on people through the use of electronic medical records is one that still needs to be debated.
Read more here: [Algorithm Has Promise for Finding Undiagnosed FH](https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aha/83458)
And read the abstract here: [Automated Electronic Health Record Screening for Familial Hypercholesterolemia](https://ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circ.140.suppl_1.15735?af=R&)
