The American College of Physicians President Dr Virginia Hood has a great essay and a great paragraph about what is wrong with electronic medical records (EMR/EHR). Fellow hospitalist Dr R.W. Donnell picked out the best paragraph of the essay. Go check them both out.
I just recently discovered the unintended consequences of EMR when an outpatient physician declined to admit their patient to the hospital because their new EMR made admitting their patient too complicated.
If vendors continue to sell EHR products to hospitals instead of physicians, the EHR will fail. Hospitals don't see patients, physicians do. Hospitals care about compliance. Physicians care about safety and efficiency.
What's the solution for hospitals out there? How can they find an EHR product their physicians will accept with excited and wide open arms? They need to treat their physicians on staff like a bunch of children. Literally. That's right. Put them in a room, shut the door and just let them play like kids. Give them multiple EHR vendor products to sample and let them figure it out on their own. Physician needs must be met first or the whole process will implode.
How do you know when you've found the perfect product? The perfect product will need no explanation. If none of the products satisfy this single criteria, say no until that product declares itself. You'll know. It's that easy.
This is the beauty of Apple Computer and all their products. They just work. No explanation needed.
If you're looking for help finding your EHR product, visit my EHR resource center filled to the brim with free interactive guides.
Also, try this E/M pocket reference card for all your bedside medical billing and coding needs.
LINK TO E/M POCKET REFERENCE CARD POST
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