Electronic U.S. Medical Billing Sought

The government is trying to nudge doctors, hospitals and insurance companies toward a nationwide computerized billing system to cut paperwork, speed payments and give quick access to medical records.

“The potential benefits of a virtually paper-free system, in terms of savings, convenience and accuracy are very substantial,” Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan said Monday.

The Bush Administration last June sent Congress a proposal for laws that would switch the nation to a standardized system of electronic billing for both public and private health insurance.

However, lawmakers did not act on it, so Sullivan’s department is moving to set up an electronic system for Medicare and Medicaid because that can be done without new laws.

Major parts of the system could be ready in 15 months, he said.

Patients would carry a plastic “health card” much like a credit or bank ATM card that would be slid through a reader or punched into a computer in a clinic or a hospital.

The department said that between 1994 and the end of the decade electronic billing could save about $30 billion.