Did you happen to catch CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, 9/13/09? Well if you didn't here's a link but the lead story was the EHR and all its benefits. David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator, spoke and others who are leading the charge. The move to the EHR is part of President Obama's healthcare reform initiative, Title XIII of ARRA that was signed into law in February. And we need to get this done.
There is little doubt that the improvements that a fully integrated and nationally linked healthcare system can bring to us as a country. Improved outcomes, less waste, faster information available when every minute counts - all of these are crystal clear, valid and important to achieve. My only concern is that we don't want to fail to capture the critical details of the patient's unique set of circumstances at the risk of getting it done faster.
There have been plenty of articles written about some of the shortcomings of new systems as well as the merits of others. This is a decision that cannot be lightly made nor should it be made hastily without all the considerations a decision of that magnitude should receive.
I am confident that these decisions will be well-made and that meaningful use will help ensure that these goals are optimally met. We do need to utilize enabling technologies like Health Story project to preserve the details of every patient's story and include this through technological solutions so that no critical issues are overlooked or left out. Physicians have so many pressures on their time with increasing patient loads. Allowing them to continue to document in this manner will help them continue to focus on the work they do best - and that is diagnose and treat their patients. You can have transcribed reports that are fullyl minable in an EHR.
Check out the story on CBS Sunday Morning and tell me what you think.
