Comments on: The Time Has Long Come http://www.residencynotes.com/2008/12/the-time-has-long-come/ Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:23:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: DrFood http://www.residencynotes.com/2008/12/the-time-has-long-come/comment-page-1/#comment-433 DrFood Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:08:27 +0000 http://www.frommedskool.com/?p=2198#comment-433 Good luck to you finding a residency that is fully electronic--I'm sure there are many and you are right to seek them out. However, out here in semi-rural mid-America, my own experience with an EMR has been pretty horrific. I'm in a small community medical system, and apparently big EMR providers like Epic didn't even want to give us a quote. We've ended up with a not-ready-for-prime-time EMR and it has NOT made my life easier. In the past, I would never allow myself to start my weekend without finishing up all my notes and paperwork from the week. Sometimes that meant staying in the office all evening and even staying overnight and working the next day, but I never got more than four days behind. I started on the EMR in May (not a bad time for peds) and things were looking hopeful until a new version of the software showed up in July that blew all efficiencies to hell. The software is bloated and clunky and it's death by a thousand clicks. Nothing is simple. Trying to find information that was in the paper chart is hell. Trying to find information that was generated even in the months since we've started the EMR is time consuming as well. On the plus side, I could bring my laptop home and work on charts using remote desktop. On the down side, unfinished work was stacking up like never before. I started my 4 day Christmas vacation with 77 unfinished notes. Some of them I just can't access, and I know there are some visits where all documentation has been lost (and thus they weren't on my list because they have vaporized), but I'm too tired to keep pointing this out. I spent most of my vacation working on charts. My girls went to the Magic House, I worked on charts. I got the list down to 18 but the number is growing again now. Yes, EMRs can be great, but it's silly to have dozens, maybe hundreds of different vendors selling incompatible products, some of which really don't work very well. We need some standardization, and small offices and medical systems need assistance in purchasing EMRs that actually work. So, good luck to you--find a good system, do well, and get a job afterwards in a place that uses the same or a similar EMR system. If we're all lucky, medicine will be much different in 3-5 years when you finish. As a primary care physician, I feel like I'm hanging on with my fingernails.
Good luck to you finding a residency that is fully electronic–I’m sure there are many and you are right to seek them out. However, out here in semi-rural mid-America, my own experience with an EMR has been pretty horrific. I’m in a small community medical system, and apparently big EMR providers like Epic didn’t even want to give us a quote. We’ve ended up with a not-ready-for-prime-time EMR and it has NOT made my life easier.

In the past, I would never allow myself to start my weekend without finishing up all my notes and paperwork from the week. Sometimes that meant staying in the office all evening and even staying overnight and working the next day, but I never got more than four days behind. I started on the EMR in May (not a bad time for peds) and things were looking hopeful until a new version of the software showed up in July that blew all efficiencies to hell. The software is bloated and clunky and it’s death by a thousand clicks. Nothing is simple. Trying to find information that was in the paper chart is hell. Trying to find information that was generated even in the months since we’ve started the EMR is time consuming as well. On the plus side, I could bring my laptop home and work on charts using remote desktop. On the down side, unfinished work was stacking up like never before.

I started my 4 day Christmas vacation with 77 unfinished notes. Some of them I just can’t access, and I know there are some visits where all documentation has been lost (and thus they weren’t on my list because they have vaporized), but I’m too tired to keep pointing this out. I spent most of my vacation working on charts. My girls went to the Magic House, I worked on charts. I got the list down to 18 but the number is growing again now.

Yes, EMRs can be great, but it’s silly to have dozens, maybe hundreds of different vendors selling incompatible products, some of which really don’t work very well. We need some standardization, and small offices and medical systems need assistance in purchasing EMRs that actually work.

So, good luck to you–find a good system, do well, and get a job afterwards in a place that uses the same or a similar EMR system. If we’re all lucky, medicine will be much different in 3-5 years when you finish. As a primary care physician, I feel like I’m hanging on with my fingernails.

]]>