RHIO's (regional health information organizations) have gotten a lot of pub lately. And in principle, most would agree sharing medical information within a geographical region would be nice.  I mean, who wouldn't want any hospital they enter to have quick and easy access to the medical information? 

But here's the truth: 

1. No one has figured who's going to pay for it.  Can you say "higher taxes" or "government bureaucracy?"

2.  Many of the RHIO that have started are closed.  A consulting industry that is entirely dependant on RHIO's being implemented will not share that information, and the press (both MSM and the Healthcare press) don't talk about . The MSM because they are all for big government and the healthcare press because they don't want to loose all the advertising dollars associated with the RHIO industry.

3.  Perhaps most importantly, there are so many other healthcare technology initiatives that need to pursued , like positive patient ID, bed side scanning, PACS, and CPOE.  All of these technologies would have a much, much larger impact on patient safety and cost reductions than RHIO's. 

Personal Health Records (PHR's) are a much better choice.  Individual ownership over government bureaucracy.