We have been hearing from doctors and
others about how much problem they are having with the electronic
health record (EHR) systems they are being required by law to use.
Having watched some of my doctors use one system, as a patient I can
sympathize. If they don't want to come back later and try to
remember information, they need to sit and click, and click, ad
infinitum. In many ways, I do not understand as I have operated
computers and programs. Some are labor intensive, and some are
almost interactive, but unless I was working on a special project, I
had time to keep up with other activities. Then to have medical
programs that are so proprietary and the information so accessible to
electronic thieves, makes me wonder if this technology is worth the
expense.
Now, we have a blog by a person working
on the other side of the problem and making a statement questioning
whether it is a tech or people problem. According to this blogger,
it is a people problem because the organizations are treating
implementation as a purely technological issue when in reality it is
a workforce issue. She is saying that organizations did not do their
homework and have workforce training and readiness for the
installation and implementation.
According to this blogger, most
organizations do not have the workforce necessary with the training
to make proper use of the programs. If only it was that easy! Most
practices are being pushed to their financial brink and some
hospitals are actually over the brink. To hire and have the
workforce available is not economically sound and would bankrupt many
organizations. Yet these programs are mandated and to receive monies
organizations need to have them installed. And the tech
organizations selling these systems could care less that their
programs may not be as efficient and safe as the buyers need.
The 2006 publication “Building the
Workforce for Health Information Transformation” by the American
Health Information Management Association and American Medical
Informatics Association stated: “A workforce capable of
innovating, implementing, and using health communications and
information technology (IT) will be critical to healthcare’s
success. Conversely, without such a workforce, implementations will
fail or could even cause harm.” What these associations don't
understand is how close to the edge many medical practices and
hospitals have been operating.
And then to blame them for not having
the trained workforce is the height of ignorance and lack of caring
on their part. This is evolving into a blame game and patients will
be the losers. I feel the tech people did not do a proper assessment
before completing their work.
