Electronic records do not mean better diabetes care

Although there are many benefits for doctor offices and other medical establishments to use electronic tools and computers to track patient information and hopefully provide better care, a new study finds that diabetes parents are not helped by all this new technology.

The study determined what I consider to be a pretty obvious conclusion: just changing the tools won't end up providing better care; the context in which those tools are used must change and evolve as well.

This study has a pretty decent amount of data behind it -- as the research included data on the care of 927 diabetic patients in 50 doctor's offices. Interestingly enough, those medical offices that offered electronic medical records actually offered a lower quality of care than those offices that did not offer electronic medical records.