New AMA President Andy Gurman, MD on EHRs: " I don't have one, and no one can make me use one."
The love-fest with EHRs continues, to the great chagrin of the believers in fairies, unicorns and cybernetic utopia.
Considering the mass hatred of EHRs by physicians (and nurses), the issue of EHR-related harms, compromised patient data security, physician scorecards, and other noxious issues, maybe he should have an agenda. E.g., see my Jan. 28, 2015 post "Meaningful use not so meaningful: Multiple medical specialty societies now go on record about hazards of EHR misdirection, mismanagement and sloppy hospital computing" at http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2015/01/meaningful-use-not-so-meaningul.html.
Not every physician can afford the time sink most EHRs represent, and the increasing penalties for non-users, unfortunately.
Perhaps on the AMA agenda should be a return to sense regarding physician and nurse documentation, with significant reduction in their clerical burden for starters.
-- SS
Andy Gurman, MD, Takes Reins as AMA President
Jun 17, 2016
Gale Scott, HCPLive
http://www.hcplive.com/medical-news/andy-gurman-md-takes-reins-as-ama-president
The American Medical Association’s new president, Andrew W. Gurman, MD, known for his affability and quick wit, is not one to seek out controversy.
In an interview before being sworn in this week as the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago, IL, Gurman said he has no agenda for his tenure at the top of the organization.
Considering the mass hatred of EHRs by physicians (and nurses), the issue of EHR-related harms, compromised patient data security, physician scorecards, and other noxious issues, maybe he should have an agenda. E.g., see my Jan. 28, 2015 post "Meaningful use not so meaningful: Multiple medical specialty societies now go on record about hazards of EHR misdirection, mismanagement and sloppy hospital computing" at http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2015/01/meaningful-use-not-so-meaningul.html.
... Though physicians’ anger over the frustration of using existing electronic health records was a major topic of conversation at the [annual AMA] meeting, Gurman said he had little to add other than no one could make him use one.
“I don’t have an EHR,” he said. Due to the fact that he runs his own practice he found it easier and cheaper just to forgo the enhanced payments he would get under the federal “meaningful use” regulations for converting to electronic records. “I just take the penalties,” he said.
Not every physician can afford the time sink most EHRs represent, and the increasing penalties for non-users, unfortunately.
Perhaps on the AMA agenda should be a return to sense regarding physician and nurse documentation, with significant reduction in their clerical burden for starters.
-- SS
