Electronic Health Record (EHR) are electronic versions of paper-based records with the function of interoperability: the ability to share and exchange healthcare data among multiple healthcare platforms. So, with the definition given above, a hint of frustration is indicated. Anything electronic is a bit of a nuisance unless it comes naturally to you.
In a Statement given by Steven J. Stack, MD, Chair American Medical Association on May 3, 2013 “EHRs have been and largely remain clunky, confusing, and complex. Though an 18 month?an old child can operate an iPhone, physicians with 7 to 10 years of the post?collegiate education is brought to their knees by their EHRs.” The dissatisfaction is pretty high among providers, in the year 2010 to 2012, “the percentage of doctors who would not recommend their EHR to a colleague increased from 24% to 39%” and they were “very dissatisfied” published in the statement by Stack.
The problem lies in the fact that handwritten notes by clinicians are brief, direct, and lack extraneous detail. More or less the medical records have become a tool to perform functions such as coding, billing, compensation, and compliance.
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In a research conducted by Rand Corporation (nation’s largest independent health policy research program) for American Medical Association, they found that EHR technology lacks the human connection. By using EHR, what doctors can learn from face-to-face discussion with their patients’ is missing. Practitioners’ end up wasting too much time in office/clerical work as opposed to doing work for their patient. The report generated also noted the fact that accuracy of the medical records suffer when doctors use template-driven doctor notes.
So, on a final note, there is a valid reason to switch to electronic medical records (incentives, ease of access), and doctors recognize this fact but the problematic nature of EHR are challenging. The solutions are simple; hiring more staff to do your work, by dividing the time you may want to spend in learning the software; and by forwarding your complaints to the EHR companies we can bridge the much-needed gap. EHR performs the tasks automatically for you, by connecting the provider’s data with the wide range of organizations instantaneously. Ultimately, the clunkiness of the moment will be the boon of the future.
