The irony is playing gotcha.
The govt forces us to use an EMR that can have some ways of making our lives more simple and then they say we can't use the tools (like templates)
Unintended consequences. Bureaucracies are largely staffed by low to mid-wits, and so they tend to craft rules that fit their unimaginative proclivities. Now mandate that Doctors start using software tools to document patient encounters, and then pay the Doctors based on how well they use those tools.
Not surprisingly, Doctors tend to be smart, motivated, detail-oriented people who can quickly adapt.
Now comes the hue and cry that bureaucrats and politicians are "Shocked!, Shocked!" that Doctors are better documenting using the mandated tools, and that leads to better payment to those Doctors. That really makes me wonder if the mid-wit brain-trust figured that you give Doctors 'extra work' in these software tools, and they will see less patients or otherwise bill less.
Smart people react to changing circumstances, they don't do less.
A recent example with specific stats available; the UK instituted a new millionaires tax. In 2010 there were 16,000 that fit that population, in 2012 the number was ~ 6000.
