Leavitt touts electronic records

For all it spends on healthcare, the United States really doesn't have a healthcare "system" consumers can use to evaluate providers and easily access information the way they can with airlines and banks, says U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt. One way of empowering consumers will be a "network of networks" of electronic medical records that will include quality and price information that will help to drive down costs, Leavitt recently said at the Medical College of Georgia. The school is currently working on a study about whether a secure electronic patient record system helps improve the health of patients. Leavitt also touted his department's work to establish electronic medical record networks in 28 pilot sites, and he thinks that most patients will have access to them by 2014.