EHR Clinician Complaints: Is it all about you, or the patient?

Paul Levy | GoLocalWorcester | April 23, 2012

An interesting article about electronic health record (EHR) systems and the continued resistance from some clinicians.  According to this article by Paul Levy, "In many places, doctors and nurses resent having to enter data into the computer. They say that it interferes with their communication with the patient and takes up too much time."

In the article, Kristin Trotter, Director of Clinical Excellence at Northern Nevada Medical Center, properly finds fault with this view. She noted:

"I have been reading this series of emails complaining about what is perceived to be excessive computerized documentation on patient care that takes the clinician away from spending time with the patient. I think it’s appropriate to remember that documentation is a communication tool. It’s meant to document the care provided to the patient in a way that lends to communication with other clinical partners that may or may not be available for face-to-face discussion about the patient. It’s meant to pass along information in real time to other caregivers and provide an up-to-date and historical record of the care provided to the patient during their stay so that I can plan my care based on current information and go back to review, to answer questions that may have arisen, and to adjust my care plan throughout the patient’s stay, based on care that has been given. EHRs can also serve as a checklist to assure that I have done everything that for the patient that is in my care plan."

"I’m just saying that maybe you need to reflect on your own practice and really determine what it is that you don’t like about EHRs. Is it about you? Or about the patient?"

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