I had never heard this term before we went to the hospital - Age of Majority. Basically, it means you are a legal adult – you can drink, smoke, vote, join the army, buy stocks, get married. Probably you can’t rent a car yet. In most of the USA the age is 18. As it relates to the medical profession, the key age it seems is 28. It is 28 because that is how long most hospitals keep records of a birth. Because if there was a criminal error during your birth and it caused problems later in life, you could sue when you are an adult if it is within a statute of limitations
To quote a government study about health related data retention:
AHIMA Standards and State Law Data: As a matter of professional practice, AHIMA has established the following recommended retention standards: 10 years after the most recent encounter (adult health records); age of majority plus statute of limitations (minor health records); 10 years after infant reaches age of majority (fetal heart monitor records); 10 years (disease, operative, and physician indexes); five years (diagnostic images such as x-ray films); and permanently (master patient index; registers of births, deaths, and surgical procedures).
I found this out when we were researching GE’s infant care products, and talking about Electronic Medical Records. Apparently, one of the compelling reasons for a hospital to switch to EMR is because they can gather more data, and it is easier to store for longer periods of time, so they can defend against lawsuits.
Now, this is not the only reason, practicing more accurate medicine is certainly important, but this seems to be a critical reason why hospitals will pony up the money to make the switch, because it could save them 10x the money in the long term. Digital insurance.
It seemed super messed up to me, until I found out that hospitals get sued enough that apparently some hospitals will not even give birth anymore, you have to go somewhere else. !! ! Now I don’t know enough to presume that this is because people are more litigious or doctors are doing a bad job, or how widespread this really is, but it sure put the situation into a different light for me.
I am constantly surprised that the medical industry is so backwards-seeming with regards to technology. Writing everything down on paper, storing it in a box for 10 years. Sending slides through the mail instead of scanning & emailing. But then I guess a hospital is a business, and if you are forced to think about the legal ramifications on a scale of nearly three decades for data retention/implementation, I can understand being slow to move on it.
So EMR solves some of the problem a hospital might have – basically covering their butt so they can stay in the baby business, and I am sure that having a more accurate process for record keeping saves TONS of mistakes due to human error, handwriting, etc. But again, thinking that choosing a hospital to give birth in is a unique chance to make a great first impression as a brand (both for GE and for the hospital) it seems like the pitch for EMR is kind of negative – do it because the industry is behind, or because there are errors, or because you might get sued.
Is there a positive way – can your baby’s medical records becoma keepsake, like how you can get those books printed from iPhoto , maybe a little timeline with ultrasounds and baby pictures that tie in to checkups? Or maybe this ties into your baby’s upcoming preventative health regime, depending on the results of the birth and tests, you get a booklet thats the start of your new child’s future health plans.
