When I first started using an EMR back in 1997 (yes the dinosaur age) I did it because I was too cheap to pay a transcriptionist. The software at the time (SoapWare) gave me the ability to type my note in a consistent fashion and produce legible notes for me and consultants. Then, I thought, hmmmmm, this is a useful feature being able to produce a data base which showed me what patients were taking Voltaren or the like. Then, I thought, hmmmm, this is nice being able to call up all patients over the age of 65 who have not had their Pneumovax. My point being, every module I added I did so because it helped me take better care of my patients and made record keeping FOR ME easier.
Unfortunately, The concept of the EMR has now degenerated into not what makes things better for the physician or for the patient but for the intruders....government, insurance, big pharma. The belief that the collection of all of this granular data will improve health care has not been proven to suit me. I have been downgraded from a physician who liked to spend time with my patients to a data entry clerk. I now am measured not by whether I actually made the patient feel better but by how efficiently I clicked here, clicked there, said I did things I may or may not have done just so I can close a fricking note. No wonder there is a physician shortage....it is not because there are not enough physicians to go around but because those physicians are forced to spend so much time away from seeing patients!
Believe me, I do not blame my new employer....I sincerely believe they do not like it any better than I but facts are facts....if you expect to get paid, expect to produce the end-product the payors demand. The tail is now wagging the dog and along with it, the poop it is covered in! I would throw up my hands but my carpal tunnel hurts too much.
