Interesting article in today's Washington Post on the potential impacts of the $19 billion in the stimulus package that is directed towards electronic health records. The article focuses on the need for standards (both legal and technical) as well as the vast amounts of additional money that will be required to make this vision a reality. (Others have concerns over the privacy implications of these measures.)
Some may feel it's best to take a "wait-and-see" attitude -- to see how the legislation actually shapes up before worrying about how we'll deal with it -- I would hope that we can take a more proactive approach.
I think we can all recognize that some form of electronic health record will become commonplace over the coming years. I hope most of us would agree that there are some health benefits to be gained from a universal, standardized system. And still, many have legitimate concerns about how such a system would be implemented and used. That is why we must begin talking now about what a human-centered electronic health record would look like.
"Human-centered" includes privacy concerns as well as software usability. And software usability includes not only the patient who owns the record, but the medical providers and clerical staff who must help keep it current and accurate, the analysts who rely on the aggregate data, and technicians who must maintain the system!
I think it's important that IS initiate this conversation about the electronic health record, but it's even more vital that it be a cross-disciplinary discussion. Medical providers and clerical support staff who will maintain these prospective EHRs must be at the table, as must representatives from the business side. Together, we should build our own vision of a humane EHR, and we can give our requirements to our representatives to help shape the policy and secure the funding.
Father's Day
9 years ago
EHR's, or EMR's are not just the wave of the future. They are here now, and provide much more than simply Health Information. Many of the commercial packages have an integrated product called "Instant Medical History" that is used to prompt patients to provide information, with branching logic based on their answers. With this product, most information for a patient visit is provided to the physician before the patient shows up. Long story short - when the patient leaves, their visit information, prescriptions, etc., are printed out and handed to the patient. Their visit is already completely documented, so there is no follow up documentation to be done after they leave, allowing providers to see about 30% more patients, and with more complete documentation than is typically done, they are able to bill at a higher level, and the system generates the bills. We could see more patients, bring in more revenue, and have happier physicians and patients if we were to implement such a product. This is something that makes a lot of sense regardless of what the stimulus package offers. Implementing an Electronic Medical Record takes a lot of time. If we were to move aggressively on it, we would be able to get one implemented in a couple of years. If the stimulus package lowers our reimbursement rate for not having one in place, we're looking at a couple of years of lower reimbursement rates while we get one implemented. The time to act on this is now. We really need an EMR.
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