Information overload for doctors increases malpractice risk I have used the electronic medical record (specifically EPIC) since 2004.  I have grown accustomed to its nuances, benefits and quirks.  There are parts about it I really like.  There are parts of it I'd like to do without but accept that they are necessary evils in our current health care climate.  I know that there will always be parts of any modified ...

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My smart phone helps me be a better doctor Your child has a rash and is acting a little sick. You reach for your phone--not to call the doctor, but to look up rashes on Google or your symptom checker app. This, according to the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, is the direction we are moving. As a doctor, I think it's great. In May ...

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Explaining the epic failure of EMRs It is no news a lot of doctors like to stick up a rather snotty nose to EMR. The defenders of the EMR tend to label such doctors as archetypal Luddites, sticking to their archaic ways and unbecoming of change and the new times. But as is usually the case with any two heated but opposite arguments, the truth likely lies ...

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Mobile health technology adoption depends on insurers Insurers will also play a pivotal role in the development and adoption of patient-focused mobile health (mHealth) technology adoption for wellness as well as for the management of chronic diseases. 1. Payers hold the purse strings.  Insurers will be the ones paying for the use of mHealth for chronic disease management for the vast majority of patients.  They have a vested interest ...

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Why IT is the core of the healthcare renaissance Warning!  I am a practicing doctor who sees real patients using an electronic medical record (EMR).  My sole agenda is to provide the best patient care.  I have no financial stake in information technology (IT).  However, unlike the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Stephen Soumerai of Harvard or Mr. Ross Koppel of the University of Pennsylvania, I have actually ...

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Why the iPad Mini is the tablet physicians have been waiting for I was skeptical about the iPad Mini.  I’ve used my Retina display iPad (3rd generation) for the past six months and been satisfied with the experience. I’ve used it in the hospital setting during rounds, and even while talking to patients in the ER.  I’m able to easily pull up Epic’s EMR using the Citrix app, and I can easily store the iPad ...

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Every time someone publishes an article or a paper or a blog post that has anything remotely to do with electronic health records (EHR), there is usually a flurry of reactions in the comments section, now available in most publications, and these always include at least half a dozen anonymous statements, usually from clinicians, decrying the current state of EHR software, best summed up by a commenter on
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You're using an EHR. You're e-prescribing. You've eliminated pulling the old paper chart (most of the time!). That's good. But how about those orders? Are you still writing on the bottom of your fee slip or encounter ticket that you want the patient to be scheduled for a test or with another physician? That's not good. Get the order in your EHR. Instead of taking the time to write on paper, keep your hand ...

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Venture capitalists (VCs) ... are a combination of professional gamblers and loan sharks. The secret to success is pure luck and ruthlessness, and when the combination works and the ball lands on the exact number on the spinning roulette, venture capitalists make lots of money. -Margalit Gur-Arie, via KevinMD.com The tone of this article, Why venture capitalists shouldn’t try to solve health care, exemplifies what is wrong with healthcare. In ...

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Imagine this scenario: A CEO stands in front of the board at a crucial juncture in corporate history, and says:

Members of the board, as you can see from the financial statements before you, we have had a reasonably good year. What!? You don’t have the financial statements in front of you? I have them here. I mean, I think I have them here. Where are they? Let me check with ...

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