The reading passage and the talk are both about the efficiency comparison between the storing methods of medical records.

The reading passage and the talk are both about the efficiency comparison between the storing methods of medical records. The article states that the digitalization of the medical data has a myriad comparative advantages over the paper-based storing. The author believes that maintaining the records in electronic databases reduces drastically the costs related to the copying, faxing and transporting the documents. Moreover, it’s claimed that the digitalization also solves the problem of the storage place, where the hand-written documents are accumulated and stored. However, the speaker casts doubts on the arguments made in the text, asserting that the even after being imported to the electronic databases, the papers will be maintained for legal and backup purposes. According to the reading, the new method would minimize the human factor and help doctors eschew the medical errors resulted by illegible handwriting. The speaker in her turn, challenges this statement by noting that in both cases the doctors create new records by using pen and paper, after which, administrative workers import the hand-written data into digital databases. This is to say, the risk of human factor is not being managed. The final argument brought forth by the author in favor of electronic storing is that it provides health workers with access to the databases which are accustomed to receive queries and display the necessary information in an organized and coherent way. Yet the speaker is of the opinion that the access to the databases can not be guaranteed as they represent subject of privacy laws and therefore can be banned by the patients who want to keep their data private.