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Podcasts Take Two
Electronic medical records vulnerable to attack by hackers
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Dec 27, 2012
Listen • 6:52
Electronic medical records vulnerable to attack by hackers
Nearly four years ago, Congress mandated the widespread adoption of electronic health records. Since then, thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctors have made the move to digitize medical records.
Dr. Klara Gershman, MD, uses a laptop computer to enter information about her patient, Doniel Adivi, on February 16, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. Dr. Gershman is starting the process of shifting her office to a computer system that will store the information of her patients as South Florida is set to receive $8.5 million in federal stimulus money to help doctors and other healthcare providers convert to electronic record keeping. The Obama administration included electronic record keeping in the stimulus package as they see it as one way to help control costs around the nation in the health care business.
Dr. Klara Gershman, MD, uses a laptop computer to enter information about her patient, Doniel Adivi, on February 16, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. Dr. Gershman is starting the process of shifting her office to a computer system that will store the information of her patients as South Florida is set to receive $8.5 million in federal stimulus money to help doctors and other healthcare providers convert to electronic record keeping. The Obama administration included electronic record keeping in the stimulus package as they see it as one way to help control costs around the nation in the health care business.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Nearly four years ago, Congress mandated the widespread adoption of electronic health records. Since then, thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctors have made the move to digitize medical records.

Nearly four years ago, Congress mandated the widespread adoption of electronic health records. Since then, thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctors have made the move to digitize medical records. 

They say going high-tech could save billions of dollars and improve the quality of care. But, online records are also vulnerable to attack. 

Over the past year, the Washington Post's Robert O'Harrow Jr. has been writing a series on cybersecurity. His last article focused on the health care industry.