TOEFL T P O 46 - Integrated Writing Task

The reading passage introduces three advantages of adapting electronic medical record systems. The professor, however, casts doubt on each points mentioned in the passage and insists that the benefits of adapting electronic record systems are unassertive. 

First, the author states that electronic records can cut off the price of storing and transferring medical records. Yet, the professor stands against this point by saying that there is no significant saving since doctors who adapted electronic medical record systems did not throw up the signed paper format of the records. They keeping them for back up and sometimes for legal purposes. So, they still paying for storage cost. This indicates that there no cost reduction for medical records storage and transferring.

Second,  the reading claims that medical errors that caused by improper transcription of data and organizational of paper records can be reduced by adapting electronic medical record systems. The professor opposes this idea by explaining that this the electronic system cannot eliminate the errors related to poor handwriting. She puts forth the idea that doctors still using pen and paper to write notes about patients and to write prescriptions as well which will later transcribed and entered by medical staff members in the electronic system. This indicates that the problem of illegible writing still exist.

Finally, the author avers that electronic records will help medical research by making tremendous amount of data from patients records easily accessible. Nevertheless, the narrator disputes this point by indicating that electronic medical records are subject to privacy low in the United States and in order for researchers to access them they have to go through long procedures and get many permissions including patient`s permission to use his information. As a result, accessing patient`s data is not getting any easier with adapting electronic medical record systems.