Why Doctors Don't Like Electronic Health Records
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There are also more mundane reasons why physicians, particularly in small practices, do not cater to EHRs or to their private enthusiasts and government backers. EHRs, you may hear physicians argue:
· are sold by so many companies—more than 100 at present—that no one knows how to separate the good from the bad or figure out which will survive.
· slow productivity.
· show negative investment returns.
· don’t speak to one another.
· distract from patient time.
· require total reorganization of practices.
· conceal a strategy for monitoring, controlling, and dictating practice activities.
· can be misused or hacked to invade privacy, reveal sensitive information, and threaten the security of patient and doctor alike.
· raise practice costs.
A word on the final point. It is not only the $40,000 that software vendors charge to install an electronic records system and the $10,000 to $15,000 for annual maintenance. It is the hassle factor and the often prohibitive cost of hiring staff to enter the data and to comply with new rules and regulations. When added to the time and effort already required to deal with Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance plans, EHR requirements are the final straw. Many doctors are seeking refuge from bureaucratic demands by retiring, closing practices to new Medicare and Medicaid patients, or seeking hospital employment.
This is ironic, since many physicians believe that new apps, such as better speech recognition or systems that translate data into narrative, will make EHRs easier to use. “Free,” government-subsidized, or cheaper models will enter the market; clinical algorithms, based on demographic and patient-entered historical information, will make diagnosis, treatment, and management faster and better. But these features must evolve from below rather than being imposed from above. EHRs won’t be useful and physician-friendly until physicians themselves have more input into their design.
The digital revolution, and all the improvements in health care that are promised, will remain promises until doctors find EHRs more useful—in medical and economic terms.
Richard L. Reece is a retired pathologist and the author of The Health Reform Maze: A Blueprint for Physician Practices. He blogs about health reform, medical innovation, and physician practices at medinnovationblog.blogspot.com
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