FO
RE
W
OR
D
4
FORTUNE.COM // APR.1.
CLIFTON LEAF
Editor-in-Chief, Fortune
@CliftonLeaf
AT THE SIMPLEST LEVEL, DIGITIZ ATION MEANS changing something, particu-
larly information, into digital form. But that elemental description well
underplays the size, the force, the impact of this process. Across the
landscape of business, digitization has been nothing short of a seismic
wave, shaking the foundations of venerable industries that had stood
imperturbable for decades. It has uprooted business models, seeded
instant commercial giants and demolished others, erased some jobs and
transformed others overnight.
For consumers, however, the digital wave has brought mostly good
things, it seems: more convenience, more flexibility, more options.
Indeed, it’s hard to think of any technological change that has delivered
more power to consumers than this—thanks in large part to the digital
devices we carry in our pockets or handbags. Sure, we may all be addicted
to our smartphones now, but who can argue with the prospect of ordering
dinner, or a car ride, or a plane ticket at the speed of a few clicks?
It was such thinking that drove the federal government a decade ago, at
the dawning of the age of the iPhone, to push for a digital transformation
of health care. Again, who could argue with the prospect of turning the un-
readable scrawl of a physician’s hand into an electronic record? Who could
be against the notion of migrating miles and miles of paper medical charts
to an interactive database that could be accessible anywhere, anytime?
In theory, the nationwide push to electronic health records, or EHRs,
would not only reduce errors (seemingly rampant in the paper-chart
era) but also fuel medical discovery, as the “big data” within was scoured
for new disease patterns and even clues to potential cures. That’s what
thought leaders across the health care field thought. That’s what politi-
cians across the political spectrum contended.
And that’s what makes the investigation by Fortune’s Erika Fry and
Fred Schulte of Kaiser Health News in this issue (please see “Death by a
Thousand Clicks” on page 56) so surprising—and so compelling. Despite
a $36 billion federal investment (or maybe, as some argue, because of
it), our massive effort to digitize America’s medical records has been an
equally massive disappointment. Instead of an efficient, interconnected,
widely accessible, consumer-friendly system, we have a barely function-
ing patchwork of networks that often don’t talk with one another—and
that sometimes even jeopardize patient health, as Erika and Fred show.
The reporting behind their three-month investigation is simply
extraordinary—and that’s why we’ve devoted 16 pages of this issue to
the story. You’ll also find much more of this important saga— including
videos, stories from patients, and other reporting—online at both
Fortune .com and KHN.org.
We’ll dive in even deeper to
this and other issues of digital
transformation at our fourth
annual Fortune Brainstorm
Health conference on April 2Ð3.
Please check out the incredible
lineup of speakers and topics at
Fortune.com. (Click on our con-
ference link to connect with all
of our events, future and past.)
As those who get an op-
portunity to participate in our
conferences understand—and
longtime readers of the maga-
zine and our many daily news-
letters know as well—Fortune
spends a lot of time focused on
the sweeping force of digiti-
zation. We write on aspects
good and bad, challenging and
invigorating. We report on the
disruptive, the addictive, and
the informative.
But amidst all of this cover-
age, I have to say that Erika and
Fred’s epic tale of unintended
consequences has truly opened
my eyes. I hope it will do the
same for you.
As always, please email us at
[email protected] and let us
know what you think.
BROKEN RECORDS
