We live in a world that relies heavily upon technology. As scientists, researchers and engineers hone the capabilities of different technologies, experts and users in the medical field try to adapt to those technologies. One such example that is beginning to work wonders in the medical field is the use of electronic health records.

It's unfortunate then, when technology goes awry. A New York Times article reported that two-thirds of the nation's health insurance industry used a faulty database that overcharged patients for seeing doctors outside their insurance network, costing them billions of dollars of inflated bills.

That is obviously not a good thing. How then do we balance the use of technology within a system that once worked swimmingly? The answer is to rely on evidence-based technology. Just like evidence-based medicine, the healthcare field needs to insure that the technologies it relies on are top-notch, not mediocre or second best.

When we rely on second best practices, the patients have to pay, as in the case of the faulty database. The Senate Commerce Committee stated in the New York Times article that: "The result of this practice is that American consumers have paid billions of dollars for health care services that their insurance payers should have paid."

To read the full article, click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/business/25insure.html?_r=1&ref=health