http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/2009/06/24/an-electronic-prescription-for-the-healthcare-system/10958 News and Information from WHYY in Philadelphia Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:16:09 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/2009/06/24/an-electronic-prescription-for-the-healthcare-system/10958/comment-page-1#comment-366 Elizabeth Lawson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:32:08 +0000 http://whyy.org/cms/news/?p=10958#comment-366 Dr Stretton is my physician. The entire practice uses this system so when I go to a different MD every one has instant access to my records , which reduces likelihood of error and saves time both for the MD ans for me. I think it is great. For instance, the MD can view my HA1C over time and see trends or print out lab reports for me. The system is very efficient, now that all of the staff are comfortable with the program. I went to another physician not part of Gateway Medical yesterday and could not believe that they were still doing everything manually. Dr Stretton is my physician. The entire practice uses this system so when I go to a different MD every one has instant access to my records , which reduces likelihood of error and saves time both for the MD ans for me. I think it is great.
For instance, the MD can view my HA1C over time and see trends or print out lab reports for me. The system is very efficient, now that all of the staff are comfortable with the program. I went to another physician not part of Gateway Medical yesterday and could not believe that they were still doing everything manually.

]]> http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/2009/06/24/an-electronic-prescription-for-the-healthcare-system/10958/comment-page-1#comment-365 Beth Renzulli, M.D. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:41:36 +0000 http://whyy.org/cms/news/?p=10958#comment-365 Very disappointed in this sugary sweet portrayal of EHR's. I am an internist in a small practice in Delaware and still use paper charts. I do believe that EHR's are necessary and ultimately an improvement, but I am certainly not naive enough to believe that it will save me either money or time. Even the incentives currently proposed will only offset my out of pocket costs. I also believe that the data I will be so meticullously gathering will ultimately be used against me in so called pay for performance schemes. Say I need to document that 90% of my female patients 40 and older get a mamogram this year, but perhaps I have a significant number of elderly women who have chosen to no longer undergo cancer screening, or say my patients don't go because of the out of pocket cost, well then I will be denied pay for choices out of my control. Additionally, these systems are touted as promoting communication, but yet all the different systems out there are not currently capable of icommunicating with each other. And patients aren't actually too pleased with a doctor that spends their visit with her nose burried in a lap top. What about that communication? So, its not inertia thats holding me back, its the prohibitive cost, the time it takes to get the system up and running (our IT person suggested we only schedule half our usual patient load the first several months of using an EHR) and also what I anticipate losing in the exam room -- the ability to give my patient my undivided attention with out hunting and pecking for appropriate check boxes on a computer screen. Very disappointed in this sugary sweet portrayal of EHR's. I am an internist in a small practice in Delaware and still use paper charts. I do believe that EHR's are necessary and ultimately an improvement, but I am certainly not naive enough to believe that it will save me either money or time. Even the incentives currently proposed will only offset my out of pocket costs. I also believe that the data I will be so meticullously gathering will ultimately be used against me in so called pay for performance schemes. Say I need to document that 90% of my female patients 40 and older get a mamogram this year, but perhaps I have a significant number of elderly women who have chosen to no longer undergo cancer screening, or say my patients don't go because of the out of pocket cost, well then I will be denied pay for choices out of my control. Additionally, these systems are touted as promoting communication, but yet all the different systems out there are not currently capable of icommunicating with each other. And patients aren't actually too pleased with a doctor that spends their visit with her nose burried in a lap top. What about that communication? So, its not inertia thats holding me back, its the prohibitive cost, the time it takes to get the system up and running (our IT person suggested we only schedule half our usual patient load the first several months of using an EHR) and also what I anticipate losing in the exam room — the ability to give my patient my undivided attention with out hunting and pecking for appropriate check boxes on a computer screen.

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