As I sit in my living room, gazing at a dot matrix printer, I question my wonderful government’s choices in healthcare. You see, we created a template package that prints the CHDP PM160 Form that uses a dot matrix imprint printer. Why do you ask? Because it’s for the state of California of course! It needs to be on a 4 piece carbon copy piece of paper. Yes, I am serious.

I also reminded of sitting next to my favorite biller at my previous job, Cindy. Every morning she would dial into the Medicare Bulletin Board System using a Modem. Yes, that’s right, a modem. The only payer that she had to do this for.

I agree with all of the new regulations that are coming down from the government (eprescribing, secondary claims, etc.). I am very supportive of decreasing the inefficiencies in health care that government loves to go on and on about. I was just curious as to when the government was going to start leading by example instead of leading by regulation?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the technology we used when dealing with the government wasn’t so antiquated it made us question what decade we were in? I find it difficult to listen to leaders talk to me about Healthcare Information Technology and increasing efficincies when I look at Medicare or Medicaid/MediCal.

Hopefully Obama will bring CMS a website to submit claims to and download ERAs from, this was one of the suggestions I made on the Change.gov Health Care Website.