On Jan 22, 2013, at 12:00 AM, RECMGMT-L automatic digest system wrote:

> From: bobd <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: January 21, 2013 9:02:09 PM EST
> Subject: Re: The (So Far) Failed Promise of Electronic Medical Records - The Daily Beast
> 
> 
> Excellent article.  Exactly what two of my medical providers have complained
> about.   They are now a high priced data entry clerk and have less time with
> patients.  I always ask them each time I see them.


The other cost to the patient is the loss of higher quality diagnostic ability.  Many diagnostic pick-ups come from the Doctor using their total observational skill during patient meetings. The head down typing removes some of that ability.  The ability to notice a slight tremor in the patients limbs or a copper crown around the eye or a slight jaundice.

It was the picking up of a slight jaundice in my brother’s eyes that alerted the doctor to a blocked gall bladder and that lead to a diagnosis of cancer. 

Doctors are always pressed for time but now it  is much worse. Doctors are on the stop watch now. They follow their prompts but those prompts have nothing to do with picking up many of the signals that lead to saving a life.  Wasting time telling you to stop smoking or watch your diet can now be billed to you so why should the doctor look up to see if they notice the particulars of your health.

A shadow on the liver could be just a shadow or it could be a tumor. A slight thinning of an artery in the brain might be a disparity or it might be a vessel about to rupture. Making your Doctor look you in the eye and really be aware of you the patient may be a skill we all need to develop. Hospitals now place more value on speed than they do accuracy so through-put is the new goal of healthcare.

Next time you visit your doctor, go off on a tangent, ask him about your vitamin regimen or how many flu types your flu shot will protect you against.  Watch their eyes, they will dart to the clock. Their inability to move you out the door will affect their rating at the hospital and that can affect their advancement. I asked my eye doctor yesterday about her new baby and she at first brightened up  and then started to look at the clock. Apparently time is money.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM


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