Doctors are spending more time in front of their computers than with their patients these days. The reason: The rise of electronic medical records, as pushed by new federal laws, according to a new report by a trio of Boston-area doctors.
Drs. John Levinson, Bruce H. Price, and Vikas Saini tell the Boston Globedoctors spend up to half of patient appointments “serving not the needs of her patient, but of the electronic medical record.”
They note that EMRs were supposed to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare, and provide instant access to vital patient information.
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It's not just doctors. Nurse practitioners and physician's assistants are under the same restraints.
ReplyDeleteWhen I spend ten minutes with a patient, then fifteen at the computer telling about it, something's wrong.
ReplyDeleteI work in healthcare, it's good and bad. I see less mistakes as far as prescriptions, but with the way insurance require documentation for everything you have to be able to read what is in the patients notes, let's face it most doctors write more like egpytian scribes! If insurance companies can't read the supporting documentation they will deny the claims so there has to be a compromise.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see a screwed up million dollar disaster with EMR you only need to travel to Carroll St and visit PRMC. Great leadership!!
ReplyDeleteI believe the PRMC EMR actually cost 56 million dollars, which may have something to do with them cutting back on staff....again...
DeleteNot only that, I've gotten 3 letters in 3 years telling me the information storage facilities have been hacked. So, now, HIPAA no longer applies to me and millions of others anymore.
ReplyDeleteIf all my info was in paper notes in a file, this would never have happened.
Why do I pay the same amount of money to see PA that I do to see a MD? I don't understand how it works! PAY the money to get your medical records and notes. It's like reading about someone else. My PA is not my friend.
ReplyDeleteAn old but true adage: garbage in, garbage out. The information coming out is only as useful and accurate as it is put in. There is NO SUCH THING as security in a computer network.
ReplyDeleteThat's if you even see a doctor. I've been going to a doctor for over a year and never met him in person not even once. His PA is the only person I talk to. He could walk up to me in the street and I wouldn't know who he is. How's that for service? As far as I'm concerned his PA is my doctor and she listens and does a better job than he probably would. Doctors are becoming obsolete.
ReplyDelete841 you're absolutely right. But let's face it. When people blow their wad on social media they forfeit their privacy anyway so what does it matter?
ReplyDeleteMy primary care physician has become nothing but a data clerk. My physicals are nothing but blood work results, a blood pressure check, and a stethoscope listen. The rest is her entering and reading data on a laptop. There is no hands on examination anymore. My PC doctor just orders and analyzes test results performed by others. My doctor might as well be a robot.
ReplyDelete56 million dollars?? You got to be kidding1 Is that actually true?? PRMC spent that much for their EMR??
ReplyDelete