Category: Physicians

We’ve written in the past about health information technology, including a doctor’s impression of electronic medical records (EMRs) and physicians declining satisfaction with EMRs.

A recent study found out why EMRs are so frustrating for physicians: the software is often written without doctors’ input.

“Current guidelines and industry standards suggest that new EHR software should be tested by at least 15 end users with a clinical background to make sure they are usable and safe before they get federal certification.

But a new study finds that many certified products did not actually conduct this user testing, or did so without clinical testers.”

That raises another question. Can you imagine Microsoft or a hardware/software developer at Apple beta testing new products on only 15 users?  Furthermore, isn’t it beyond imagination that managers at Apple or Microsoft would ever say, “Hey, let’s not bother with testing this on 15 people, that’s just a waste of time.”

Print

This post is excerpted from an article, Physicians Report Declining Satisfaction with EHRs, from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The report was sent to us by Dr. Larry Pivnick, who authored a report on electronic health records.

“During the past decade, America’s physicians — particularly, family physicians — have invested lots of money and countless hours in implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems. Some physicians eagerly dived into the EHR pond; others were pushed by government initiatives, such as meaningful use, that were intended to spur technology uptake but that have become increasingly burdensome to physicians.”

[I]n 2010, 61 percent of respondents said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their EHRs, compared with just 34 percent in 2014.
Of physicians who responded to the 2014 survey,

•  55 percent said it was difficult or very difficult to use their EHR to improve efficiency,
•  72 percent said it was difficult or very difficult to use their EHR to decrease workload,
•  54 percent indicated that their EHR system increased their total operating costs, and
•  43 percent said they had not yet overcome productivity challenges associated with implementation of their EHR.

“From the physicians’ perspective, it appears that the significant investment in EHR system(s) over the past few years in the United States is failing to offer significant returns. Far from helping physicians to operate efficiently and have more time to spend with patients, the opposite appears to be the case.”

Source: Physicians Use of EHR Systems 2014

Print

One of the most interesting things about health politics and policy is that those mostly responsible for driving health costs — physicians — are the least concentrated interest group. If we want to know what the research-based pharmaceutical industry, the generic drug industry, the health insurers, the hospitals, or the medical-device makers want, we know where to go to find a fairly unified answer.

Physicians have no unified voice. The closest thing to a professional association for all physicians should be the American Medical Association, but it is not. It is a business that profits from a government-sanctioned monopoly on billing codes.

Print