This is all true but there's one important element that needs to be included. EHR's or EMR's were not designed to document the diagnostic process or the treatment process for patients. They were designed specifically to identify and transmit payment codes to insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid. The basic underlying design is financial, not medical. And all the workarounds have made them nearly impossible to correct. To redesign one element of an EMR costs six figures. There are different organizations right now who are trying to create a whole new platform for the EMR.Prior efforts have failed primarily because Epic, the 800 pound gorilla in EMR's, has bought the companies and buried the technology.
Thanks for this information, Nita. I had never really thought about the inaccuracies that could occur in EHR data. I should have, considering the experiences in the algorithms we encounter daily, and their frequent blunders. Tools are only as valuable as the hand using them, my Dad told me.
So true, Tom! Despite working on EHR studies myself, I’m weary of their limited utility because it’s almost impossible to piece apart medical reality from misogyny. Women with complex chronic illnesses like dysautonomia or connective tissue disorders are often dismissed as having anxiety or functional neurological disorder, and this prevents them from receiving the care they need.
ECR's are no better than the medics that have written them. Remember the Covid fiasco. That shows their worthlessness.
This is all true but there's one important element that needs to be included. EHR's or EMR's were not designed to document the diagnostic process or the treatment process for patients. They were designed specifically to identify and transmit payment codes to insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid. The basic underlying design is financial, not medical. And all the workarounds have made them nearly impossible to correct. To redesign one element of an EMR costs six figures. There are different organizations right now who are trying to create a whole new platform for the EMR.Prior efforts have failed primarily because Epic, the 800 pound gorilla in EMR's, has bought the companies and buried the technology.
Exactly! EHRs do what they were intended to, and patient care was never top of mind.
Thanks for this information, Nita. I had never really thought about the inaccuracies that could occur in EHR data. I should have, considering the experiences in the algorithms we encounter daily, and their frequent blunders. Tools are only as valuable as the hand using them, my Dad told me.
So true, Tom! Despite working on EHR studies myself, I’m weary of their limited utility because it’s almost impossible to piece apart medical reality from misogyny. Women with complex chronic illnesses like dysautonomia or connective tissue disorders are often dismissed as having anxiety or functional neurological disorder, and this prevents them from receiving the care they need.