By Hannah Kuchler

John Kuhn needed to bare his midriff to hospital administrators to finally get out of a $20,000 bill for surgery that he did not have.

“I had to go in front of the billing department and the chief financial officer and pull my shirt up and show them I did not have a gaping scar on my stomach,” he says.

While most other industries have enjoyed a decades-long marriage with the Internet, in health care, we’re still in the “getting to know you” phase, working to establish a level of trust. Understandably, there are major concerns in our industry surrounding data integrity, both in and outside of the firewall.

Last week, I brought my 9-year-old son to the pediatrician for his annual physical. I could tell you what the experience was like but I know that, if you have kids or if you have a primary care physician, you already know how it went. Except, in this case, it was worse. Yes, we barely got a greeting as the nurse practitioner walked in to the exam room, past my son on the exam table, and straight towards the computer in the corner. Yes, we sat there patiently waiting to begin as she tried to log in – twice.