November 6, 2011
A Gilbert and Sullivan Take on Meaningful Use
Written by: JohnA little video to brighten your weekend.
*Thanks to Carl Bergman from EHR Selector for pointing it out to me. For those unfamiliar with Gilbert and Sullivan, here’s their wikipedia page.
If you’re someone who loves watching EMR and Healthcare IT related videos as opposed to reading about it, be sure to check out this EMR & EHR Video website.
Here are the lyrics in case you want to take your time reading them:
I am the model user of an EMR that’s meaningful
My patient’s information is computerized and digital
Each visit note and test result is easily retrievable
With speed and accuracy that is almost inconceivable!
It’s shared by every health provider who should need to see it all
And yet it’s safely kept behind a well-protected firewall
If somebody should hack into it that would be a federal crime
And if I share my password it’s for sure I’ll do some prison time
The demographic information I collect may seem absurd
There’s date of birth, race, gender, ethnic group and languages preferred.
In short, in matters medical, computerized and digital
I am the model user of an EMR that’s meaningful.
I reconcile each medication, noting every single pill
Except for controlled substances, I electronically refill
I check for interactions for each single drug I may prescribe
And allergies to medications that my patients may describe.
I take blood pressure, weight and height, and calculate their BMI
And check the box that says I told them if it is too low or high.
The system plots a growth chart I don’t need to do it manually
I ask each patient’s smoking status and update it annually.
I keep a current and updated patient diagnosis list
I send reminders to my patients to prevent appointments missed
I’m typing better than my Mom who once worked in a steno pool
I am a model user of an EMR that’s meaningful.
At each encounter’s end I print an after visit summary
I’m tracking 14 core objective measurements of quality
Plus 5 of 10 more menu set objectives chosen just for me
Will this improve the care I give or is it just frivolity?
It does not matter, ’cause my data pretty soon will be online
And patients who can see it will be judging me in no short time
Deciding if I am a doctor who provides them decent care
Based only on the numbers that the CMS report puts there.
It’s been 5 years since I have looked a patient straight into the eyes
Without my finger on the keys or else a laptop on my thighs
Though I have carpel tunnel syndrome, trigger thumb and shoulder pull,
I am a model user of an EMR that’s meaningful.






I don’t know the writer, DR. Peggy Polaneczky, but anyone who combines Gilbert and Sullivan with Tom Lehrer’s The Elements can’t be all bad.
Apparently, she is a New York City ObGyn, who in addition to her practice blogs on food, health and NYC. She’s at the Blog That Ate Manhattan, tbtam.com.
John! Thanks for posting this link. Dr. Polaneczky, thanks for sharing your creative sense of humor! Cheers…