Because America's healthcare system lacks efficiency, some are advocating expanding the use of electronic health records. Moving to some form of universal digital documentation “would improve the quality and convenience of patient care, increase patient participation in their care, improve the accuracy of diagnoses and health outcomes, improve care coordination, and increase the efficiency of medical practices and cost savings” (“The advantages of electronic assistance” Health Medical Record (EHR)”). TR Reid also discusses the benefits of electronic health records using France as an example in his book The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. In 2009, France had the highest-rated healthcare system. France's administrative costs represent less than 5% of healthcare spending. This can be attributed, at least in part, to the Carta Vitale, a green plastic credit card with a small gold memory chip in the center, the central administrative tool of French medicine; contains the patient's entire medical record, going back to 1998. According to Reid, it is "the secret weapon that makes French medical care so much more efficient than anything Americans are used to" (58). Reid's discussion of the vital chart so positively sheds light on the benefits America would gain by incorporating this form of electronic health record. According to Richard Hillestad, PhD, “If 90% of hospitals and doctors' offices participated, we could save about $80 billion a year” (“18 Big Ideas to Improve Health Care Now”). As a result, many people believe that switching to electronic health records would save a lot of money, thereby increasing the efficiency of the American health care system s...... middle of paper ...... resembles a system of foreign country. As Reid says, “The real problem with these foreign health systems is that they are foreign. This offends the mindset – sometimes called American exceptionalism – that our strong, wealthy, and enormously productive country is sui generis and has no need to borrow ideas from the rest of the world” (13). Since this type of reform would represent a major problem for our society, what I concluded is that the first step we can realistically take as individuals is to educate ourselves and the people around us, one of the three purposes of my investigation. As our government more than others responds to the will of the people, reducing our ignorance on the issue and understanding and supporting the benefits of a single-payer system, this reform can be accomplished, increasing the efficiency of our health care system..