What will be the main uses and benefits of the ASTM CCR standard?
The ASTM CCR is not a panacea. The main benefit of the widespread use of the ASTM CCR standard will be the improvement in the quality of care that results from more, and more accurate, summary patient health information being accessible when treatment and diagnostic decisions need to be made. Safety of care will also be improved, as patients and doctors benefit from immediate access to patients’ lists of medications and dosages, allowing all parties to avoid the sometimes very dangerous duplication of medications and other kinds of errors associated with illegible or incomplete drug information. Finally, we think that the ASTM CCR standard will have a significant impact on efficiency, as errors due to missing or incomplete health information are very costly to patients, insurance companies, and other payers of medical care in the U.S. We also expect that being able to know with confidence that patient health information can be compiled or exported in a standard fashion from an EHR soft
