I have been a critic of the ACA on several grounds. One big ACA success is barely mentioned

I want to be fair and balanced. The healthcare.gov roll-out was first degree IT malpractice (this coming from a person who developed large-scale IT systems for 40 years.) And in my particular region, we have no competition in the exchange, resulting in policies more than doubling in price. The insurance companies continue to be out of control. There is much to be unhappy about with regard to ACA. For some of us, it just isn't the system that was promised.

However, let me mention one aspect of ACA that I think is proving to be hugely successful, a major source of real cost savings and better HC delivery, yet it is barely mentioned. That is in the area of integrated records.

Both of my parents have been in the hospital a lot recently, and my mother actually passed a few weeks back. I am highly critical of the care my mother received. However, throughout this process, it became clear to me that the hospital system had made huge advances in online records. There is now a complete record of all tests, all dispensing of drugs, all procedures, all examinations. And this record is instantly available to every doctor practicing within that hospital network.

As an example, my father needs some prostate surgery. Today I took him to the cardiologist who must clear him as fit for a general anesthetic. The cardiologist did not have to do any new tests because there was a recent EKG at the hospital, and a neurologist had done an ultrasound of the heart last week in response to another condition we were concerned about.

This is huge. The doctor is more efficient. We got what we needed in a single 15-minute visit. There were no redundant tests run, and all those decisions are clearly documented. Repeated a million times, this must result in huge cost savings throughout the system.

I remember when the ACA first passed, lots of docs were bitching about the fact that the law required them to upgrade their computer systems, and actually gave them a truckload of money to help that along. But now that this is bearing fruit, we hear nothing about it.

I just wanted to say something nice about the ACA for a change.