Posted on 02/24/2020 3:39:45 AM PST by gattaca
Correspondent Lee Cowan checks in on Epic Systems Corporation, of Verona, Wis., a software company that has changed the way medical records are kept, accessed and disseminated.
Digitizing medical records should never have been done. The reason is simple, anything digital, not matter what it is or where it’s at is subject to being hacked.
GWB started the push for EMRs. Barry just batted cleanup.
Every year since they have been in use I have had at least one error in my EHRs. And a couple of those errors have been whoppers. I never had a problem with my written charts.
The last 15 years of my medical records/health info management career, I focused on helping hospitals with transition to the EMR. I didn’t work with Epic but with two other systems. It was a constant project of tweaking the system in response to doctors’ and others’ requests, but it certainly made life easier when it ran right.
Having said that, I’m glad to have retired from all that!
EMR’s suck because they were designed primarily to generate and justify a bill, originally. Everything else they do was added on after the fact.
Worse, IMO, is that the can be CHANGED.
Orwell was very prophetic, and the Dems/libs are masters of 1984. How else could the party that overwhelmingly voted against significant civil rights legislation be the great guardians of minority rights? (in their estimation...)
Of course you are correct, however there is no way you can put the genie back in the bottle. America is no longer land or tangible things. America is now the cloud.
They can’t possibly be as bad as Workday. This was not me although it sums up my feelings on the “tool”.
https://www.reddit.com/r/rant/comments/9o8yvc/if_you_created_workday_i_fucking_hate_you/
Where I worked and retired from at major Hospital in Michigan and retired from, we implemented EPIC system.
Point #1 - they are not YOUR medical records under the law. They are your Doctor’s medial records. Dont believe me? When the courts want a copy of your medical records, who receives the supena? You or your doctor?
Point #2 - the records are NOT for your benefit or to improve your health care. They are there for the Doctor’s, clinic’ and hospital’s legal protection from malpractice accusations.
I am of the opinion that until pints 1 and 2 are changed in law, we will continue with the current system, consequences be damned.
But the best EMR out there. I have worked in many and have been to epic for advanced classes. It has improved my practice greatly over when we had an inferior EHR
As a physician, I’ve worked with Epic. They’ve ruined patient care and physician education. Don’t get me started.
Normally I would agree with you.
And I would also add that the Obamacare requirement to go to medical records has caused many small practices to go out of business.
That said, in the past year my wife has been very ill with pancreatic cancer. She has had more scans, MRIs ultra sounds, tests, and surgeries in the past six months than most people will have in a year.
In the past tests would be repeated, lost, sent to the wrong place, and they would have added weeks to the process. And when dealing with PC, weeks in daignosis is the difference between living three weeks and five years.
In each case the subsequent doctor was able to access the entire medical record, tests, images, and diagnosis. Tests taken in different offices and through different labs can be viewed sequentially, identifying issues long before they would have shown up.
I understand the concern about hacking. I am sensitive to that. But I wanted to present a perspective where this “consolidation” of systems benefits a real life patient.
I worked for a health system where my wife is treated. 1/3 of that system is not on Epic. The other two thirds are. The two thirds that are are much more efficient and effective. I avoid having her go to the hospital where she still works (where I left in 2019) because it is a pain in the ass to coordinate care. And “our” hospital is ranked very high in individual care. They simply cannot “talk” to the other providers.
EPIC fail?
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