Welcome to EMR and EHR

I’m out of town now at a leadership retreat. So, I decided I’d pose a question and hopefully a number of people will leave comments with their thoughts on the subject. Now for the question:

What type of impact will the most recently passed “healthcare reform” bill have on EMR adoption and use?

One of my readers sent me the following email…

New England Journal of Medicine survey:
46% of primary care physicians would quit if Obamacare becomes law!

I’m not sure I agree with the statement. Should I? If this does happen, how will it affect the EMR industry? Should EMR vendors should be preparing for the healthcare reform (Obamacare) in their projections?

It’s the weekend and so I have less readers. That means I like to post a wide variety of things on the weekend. The following came to my email and I laughed so hard I couldn’t help but post it. Enjoy!

So you’re a senior citizen and the government says no health care for
you, what do you do?

Our plan gives anyone 65 years or older a gun and 4 bullets. You are
allowed to shoot 2 senators and 2 representatives. Of Course, this
means you will be sent to prison where you will get 3 meals a day, a
roof over your head, and all the health care you need! New teeth, no
problem. Need glasses, no problem. New hips, knees, kidney, lungs,
heart? All covered.

And who will be paying for all of this? The same government that just
told you that you are too old for health care. Plus, because you are
a prisoner, you don’t have to pay income tax anymore.
IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?!

SRSsoft, an EMR vendor, put out an interesting press release putting the lost democratic senate seat in Massachusetts with healthcare reform and EHR adoption. Here’s a quote from the press release:

“The question is not whether we need healthcare reform,” says Evan Steele, CEO, SRSsoft. “Rather, the voters voiced their concern that reform must benefit consumers and physicians, not just government, insurance companies, and vendors. This election must open the government to input from all stakeholders, and that is a good sign for the constituents of SRS—the physicians—who feel that their voice is not being heard on healthcare reform and on EHR adoption.”

Honestly, I don’t see the change in the Senate seat affecting EMR adoption at all. However, I think it will have a big impact on healthcare reform. I’ve said before that the healthcare reform has opened our eyes to the government processes in ways we’d never seen before. I think that the HITECH act has done much of the same for those of us interested in EMR legislation and rule making.

I’m sure that many of you have already seen it, but it made me so happy watching it that I just had to share it for those that hadn’t seen it. Plus, it’s worth a second watch. The employees at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon put this video together for Breast Cancer Awareness to the song “Down” by Jay Sean. My favorite part of the video is the old man dancing with the broom. Well worth the 3:38.

I got the following email that I just couldn’t resist posting. I’m not sure who deserves credit for this, but I think that many will enjoy the perspective.

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Obama health care proposals.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve..

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. Pathologists yelled; “Over my dead body!” while the Pediatricians said, “Oh, Grow up!”

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, “This puts a whole new face on the matter….”

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

President Barack Obama is defending his relentless campaign for a health care bill before Congress’s August recess, saying “the default in Washington is inaction and inertia.”

Mr. Obama, there is a good reason for inertia. It protects complex systems which have evolved over time from dramatic change which can be very disruptive and threaten the very survival of the system. Inertia moderates change so that change can be accomplished slowly and successfully. Inertia is sometimes a good thing. In the case of healthcare reform, this inertia might save our healthcare system.

Improving our healthcare system is an important project. This cannot be done in 3 months by politicians and bureaucrats who are not expert or experienced in the ways of healthcare. The system must evolve slowly, thoughtfully and carefully.

The goal should NOT be universal coverage at the expense of everything else! Universal coverage is a worthy goal, but there are other things which are more important like quality of care, cost of care, ability to access care, innovation and properly aligned incentives. Universal coverage puts EVERYTHING else at risk and therefore we need to pause, take a deep breath and figure out how we are going to improve our health system without ruining it and putting our whole economy at risk.

The experiment in Massachusetts has been a disaster. It has achieved the goal of universal coverage but the cost of care has gone up and access to care is terrible (not enough providers). Doctors are miserable, not making any money and they are leaving the state. Let’s look very closely at Massachusetts before we duplicate this disaster at the national level!