sfernandez,
For my part, your question is extremely well taken. Sure, while I do not want to do these for the insurance companies and want to decide on my own if I wish to do a Hb or Lead level on a nine-month-old, most of what you listed makes a lot of sense. I have to respectively disagree with Brian on the medication cross-references. While I can certainly look up whether Depakote and Lamictal don't play well together (they don't), it would be nice if the program did that for you. Unfortunately, that's what makes programs like eMDs so expensive.
@Paul, good points but your argument about what did we do before EMRs is like saying what did we do before fax machines. We adapt. Now that we have EMRs, we want to use them to improve patient care (yes, I know not how insurance wants us to use them, but some of these things are good ideas). For instance if my MA puts in that the mother is breast feeding her child, then at the one month, two month visits and so on, the EMR should alert me to ask about Vitamin D. Plain and simple. Also as much as we all hate P4P on the front end, i.e. having to do it, when you get a check for $4,100 from Mainecare as I did last week, it seems pretty cool.
Jim, I guess there is no way of knowing how much having the father/mother attitude helps with litigation. And, I can't say too much, but from my vantage point, I think it means nothing. Well, of course, we are talking an "n" of one. And, I would rather receive the papers that say I am now in a lawsuit than the release form that states I need to send records to Low, Lower and Lowest. Then you never know where you stand.
