Paper charts

October 6, 2008

Electronic records are a recent theme here. #1 Dinosaur give his take in a Medscape piece (registration required), calling the current crop of EMRs nor ready for widespread use:

The EMRs promise of a “paperless” office is as distant as ever. It’s much easier to keep my efficient, time-tested paper charts than lay out thousands of dollars for hardware and software that aren’t going to save time or money, or make a single substantive difference in the care that I deliver.

It’s not that this dinosaur doesn’t appreciate the advantages of living in a computerized world. However, after a careful evaluation of the present-day pros and cons of EMRs, I still say, “Make mine paper.”

Doctors are not technology-adverse. But going digital has to be done with the right programs, and the current generation of EMRs aren’t quite there yet.



Related posts:

  1. How the widespread adoption of electronic medical records can raise health care costs
  2. Most hospitals still use paper records, and why money alone won’t solve the electronic medical record problem
  3. Life and living
  4. Poll: Will electronic medical records really save money?
  5. EMRs: Not ready for prime time?
  6. A woman advertises in the paper, looking for a doctor
  7. Inflating the US infant mortality rate


KevinMD.com on Facebook


  Follow on Twitter   Subscribe



Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post: Bashing Demerol

Next post: Will the current economic woes save primary care?

Site Meter