Because of the siloing of healthcare systems across several hospitals, Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems are limited in their usefulness to patients. Various services exist to transmit EHR records to other hospitals via encrypted connections that are compliant with HIPPA but ultimately require using fax as a master communication protocol, accumulating additional fees in the process. In fact, a 2018 survey among licensed primary care physicians who had used EHRs conducted by The Harris Poll found that 59% of physicians believed the EHR records system needed a complete overhaul while 44% believed that the EHR's were primarily used for data storage. All of this points towards inter-agency complications between EHR systems that require greater collaboration before transitioning to an electronic communication system.

It's important to note, however, that most physicians still agree that EHR systems have led to increased quality in patient care. In the future, a national EHR system similar to ones currently under construction in countries with national healthcare systems (Canada, the UK, Australia) can be instituted in the US but would likely require expansion of social nets before it is possible. There are also significant concerns expressed in US politics that a national EHR system would lead to another expansion of government scope that could be used for authoritarian purposes or that troubled persons with, for example, a history of substance abuse in the past could be permanently remembered and scrutinized by government agencies.
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