Home Forums Discussions Problems FLAMING "STRONG MEDICINE"

I guess that I should chime in! I quit the ACP, the AMA, the local medical societies about 4 years ago and never looked back. They have done nothing to stem the tide of insurance cuts on our income and now, like the aafp, are advocating HIT in a way that will hurt physician practices throughout the USA.

What the letter that started this thread refers to is the formation of a site to supposedly "help" transition physicians into e-prescribing. This letter is an obfuscation of what is really going on in e-prescribing. There is still NO legislation forcing us to eprescribe now, or well into the future. Check out an article about this here.

The last I heard from Congress was this:

"In December 2007, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would require Medicare physicians to adopt e-prescribing systems by Jan. 1, 2011. Despite bipartisan support, the bill is stalled at the committee level."

As you can see, Sen. "Jerk" Kerry is not our friend... I'm glad that he didn't become president in 2004. My donation to the PT boat guys that smeared him was well earned.



But other "enemies" include Bush, Gingrich, and Hillary Clinton who have spoken frequently on forcing us all to pay for these HIT measures that they hope will cure what ails Medicare. The one that I fear the most is Hillary- with her universal health care there will be nowhere to run (except to retire) since one insurance will cover everyone. In theory, we won't be able to even see cash patients!



Just recently, I read on the fact that controlled substances still cannot be e-prescribed, a really big problem. Here's another reference to this:

"Meanwhile, many groups say that the Drug Enforcement Administration rules that prohibit the e-prescribing of controlled substances are hindering physician adoption of e-prescribing technology."

Now, the above 2 quotes came from this article from 1/14/2008.

The fact that the aafp is trying to force its members into the purchase of selected expensive CCHIT certified EMRs should unite all physicians to drop Medicare in tandem in an effort to control this institution once and for all.

On the upside, alot of this is hot air, since they need physicians to go along for the ride, and as you can read here, as well as in numerous studies (see my slideshow for 10/2007 outcomes from the CDC and the Medical Records Institute) the vast majority aren't biting.

As much as Secretary Leavitt predicts the positive future of HIT (see HHS Secretary Calls for E-Rx Mandate, Other Changes here), the reality is that big business is beginning to shy away from CCHIT and "enterprise" EMRs as our own Joseph posted here .

So in summary, these politicos have a lot of work ahead of them to get us on board. We're not dumb buffalo that will willingly go for our own slaughter!



An excellent whole index of e-prescribing articles can be found here .

I apologize for the graphics- it's Sunday, and I'm in the mood!