Worsening patient responsibility

TBTAM: “Am I imagining it, or are my patients taking less and less responsibility for their healthcare, and leaving it all up to me?”

Comments

bemused
With respect, isn’t the whole point of electronic medical records to pull up reliable patient histories without much help from the patient? And it’s ultimate goal that that accurate detailed histories of the patient, travel anywhere the patient might, with greater ease, accurracy and speed, with less reliance on patient or physician for good memory?
Look, I know when or whether I’ve had any particular test, within reason. But if you want real specificiity of time and date, I will either have to refresh my recollection with a view of my own records, or my personal physician will.
And if you maintain my records electronically, I will indeed expect you to be able to call the the information as easily by using them as you might by asking me.
You know this is the fallacy of electronic records.
They are quite nearly as prone to mistake as a patient’s own idea of his history, and in fact it is rather an annoyance for a physician to have to look it up rather than ask a patient directly.
I have several physicians who use a variety of such systems – Ob, rheumatologist, endocrinologist…
and frankly they stumble all over the pages, and the records are often inadequate, incomplete, or flat wrong, (as to the last, especially with regard to medication history). After a period where they seemed to prefer to try to make their learning curve accelerate and use the records they way they had hoped to use them, they are back to prefering to simply ask me before looking anything up.
TBTAM
Bemised – You are absolutely right, and when we have the right portable medical record, neither I nor my patient will have to remember much of aything. I long for that day.
However, an EMR has to be much, much more than just a giant repository for patient information. Otherwise, it is no better than jsut having a giant stack of papers to weed through. The information has to be retirievable, relevent and timely, and getting to it online has to be faster than simply asking the patient.
If I am seeing a patient who has already seen a colleague, adn that coleague has used the EMR the way it was intended, then you are correct – everything I need to know is there online.
Unfortunately, this is still the minority of patients in my practice (See my last post on the EMR). So for now, this is my reality.
Anonymous
I too get outdone with irresponsibility and see more of it than 20 years ago.
But the examples that come to mind, even day to day, are more aggravating than those, which look pretty lightweight. If one of colleagues presented a serious of those grips, I would gently suggest a vacation. Not saying “burned out” but maybe starring to char a little.
TBTAM
Anonymous -
Not burned out, not even charred. And yes, I see much more serious examples of irresponsiblity, but those are complex and difficult.
I just thought these were kinda’ funny…

Worsening patient responsibility

Related Stories

More in Uncategorized

Comments

Site

Channels

Subscribe

Related Stories

More in Uncategorized

Comments

Site

Channels