Some 23 million additional U.S．residents are expected to become more regular users of the U.S．health care system in the next several years, thanks to the passage of health care reform.Digitizing medical data has been promoted as one way to help the already burdened system manage the surge in patients．But putting people's health information in databases and online is going to do more than simply reduce redundancies．It is already shifting the very way we seek and receive health care．
'The social dynamics of care are changing,' says John Gomez, vice president of Eclipsys, a medical information technology company．Most patients might not yet be willing to share their latest CT scan images over Facebook, he notes, but many parents post their babies' ultrasound images, and countless patients nowadays use social networking sites to share information about conditions, treatments and doctors．
With greater access to individualized health information-whether that is through a formal electronic medical record, a self-created personal health record or a quick instant-messaging session with a physician—the traditional roles of doctors and patients are undergoing a rapid transition．
'For as long as we've known, health care has been I go to the physician, and they tell me what to do, and I do it,'' says Nitu Kashyap, a physician and research fellow at the Yale Center for Medical Informatics．Soon more patients will be arriving at a hospital or doctor's office,having reviewed their own record, latest test results and recommended articles about their health concerns．And even more individuals will be able to skip that visit altogether, instead sending a text message or e-mail to their care provider or consulting a personal health record or smart phone application to answer their questions.
These changes will be strengthened by the nationwide shift to electronic medical records,which has already began．Although the majority of U.S．hospitals and doctors' offices are still struggling to start the changeover, many patients already have electronic medical records, and some even have partial access to them．The My Chart program, in use at Cleveland Clinic, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and other facilities, is a Web portal (门户)through which patients can see basic medical information as well as some test results．
Medical data is getting a new digital life, and it is jump-starting a 'fundamental change in how care is provided,' Gomez says.
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