Who's Listening to Our EHR Issues?
Mary Pat Whaley, FACMPE, CPC
Medical Practice Consultant, Manage My Practice LLC
We hear more and more every day about EHR problems and physician dissatisfaction with performance and the way the federal government makes them use it. So, who should physicians complain to?
Of course you should complain to the vendor about usability and performance, and complain in groups when possible. I've started several user groups in the past and have had success in communicating with vendors to improve their products. The key is keeping the User Group independent from the vendor, which takes committed volunteers.
In addition, you may want to complain to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and hope that other physicians will do the same and there will be traction gained by many voices. The ONC has just launched an online complaint form for this purpose, but note, Coordinator Karen B. DeSalvo, MD only wants to hear about problems with certified EHRs.
Don't know if your EHR is certified? Check here.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is also working on behalf of physicians with a campaign called "Break The Red Tape" which calls upon physicians to write about (or video) their EHR story. Even if you don't plan to share your EHR story, be sure to click on the link and hear from real people.
Physicians (and their staffs) are overwhelmed with all the mandates. As a consultant, I no longer work with Meaningful Use, PQRS/VBM or PCMH. I refer practices to other consultants for these needs because I would rather work on what I think is meaningful in medical practice today - practice business models and strategies that bring more satisfaction to the physician and the patient.
Mary Pat Whaley is a Physician Advocate and Consultant who blogs at Manage My Practice. Her LinkedIn group of the same name, Manage My Practice, is for those interested in healthcare management.
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Physician Informaticist | CMIO | Digital Health Entrepreneur
9 年All very valid and solid observations. Given the train has left the station (and we're onboard), we must continue to look for all ways to streamline clicks while discretely capturing a meaningful set of data for reporting and decision support. This places a large burden on each hospital and clinics technical support and build team's ability to understand the needs being voiced, watch workflows, negotiate and communicate changes to the users interface (most meaningful changes occur en masse and not by individual provider or clinic). As you can see, the cost goes up significantly OR providers just figure out a work around. Solutions are 1) scribes 2) dragon dictation or other 3) create protocols orders/workflows 4) learn every shortcut, tip and trick that you can to save 30-40 secs per patient. Just my two cents. ;-)
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9 年No one is nor will they
Kindness comes in many forms but always from the heart.
9 年P
Using Sustainable Ai to Solve Major Problems | 80% Data Reduction | Can help any business.
9 年What's really, really, really SAD is that WE (aka TOP companies/startups and universities) TOLD YOU SO in 2010 and the Feds with their "Meaningless Use" killed our innovation!!! The way "IT" systems are built is fundamentally flawed!! Who can blame a vendor when the Feds wrote regulations to perpetually pay them and force the hospitals to pay them for "Meaningless Use" for YEARS ... I'm still praying for the "Uber for Washington"!!
Analyst
9 年Not trying to sell anything, but there are products that make the workflow better. EHR would be the backbone to the "required" tech that physicians need - but there are voice command modules - that make clicking easy, taking notes, transcribing, etc. There are tons of ad-ons that make the day to day easier.