A fantastic new study 😉 has once again documented the incredible burden of EMRs on U.S. family physicians. Researchers observed 982 family physician-patient encounters in clinics associated with 10 family medicine residencies. They recorded the times required for the physicians to complete each clinic visit. They did not record times for...
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A study from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority found that in half of the medication errors in healthcare facilities, the leading factor was the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) function of the EMR and how it interacted with the pharmacy system. A majority (69%) of the errors reached the patient, though few...
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Over my career, the American Academy of Family Physicians, my primary professional society, has made some colossal mistakes in what it has chosen to advocate for. It has learned from its past mistakes, but only a little. They’re about to screw it up again with their call for payment reform, but...
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From the mid- to late-2000s, lots of pundits got into the business of shoving electronic medial records (EMRs)down doctors’ throats. There were a few incentives from the Feds to help with the upfront costs, but it was a pittance of what it really costed hospitals and physician practices. And there was...
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According to an article in Health Data Management, the Center for Brain Health at NorthShore University Health System in the Chicago area will use the organization’s electronic health records (Epic) and “advanced analytics” to “get ahead” of the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Many of the typical health scare tactics are in play...
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Larry Bauer, who is a leader in family medicine education in the northeast U.S., sent out a link to a piece written by teacher who complained about the over-emphasis on standardized tests in secondary education. He felt so bad about it, he quit teaching.  Here is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/06/teachers-resignation-letter-my-profession-no-longer-exists/ Larry asked...
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The National Quality Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1999 as a collaborative effort between representatives of many healthcare entities. Its description of itself from its website reads: NQF’smore than 375 members represent virtually every sector of the healthcare system: consumers, purchasers, health plans, providers, healthcare professionals, suppliers, community health organizations,...
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Two more recent studies I didn’t mention last week documented how little influence electronic medical records (EMRs) had on outpatient care. One study measured 20 markers of quality between practices with and without EMRs over 255,402 national ambulatory patient visits. 19 of the 20 quality indicators were no different between the...
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