CK I am with you. Creating data points that you can search is important. When we signed up for Amazing Charts we saw it as only a temporary solution that would allow us to get patient demographic and billing into more modern software, (we replaced a DOS system). We thought 1 year, 2 years tops and we would outgrow the access based system and at the same time we would finally know the "truth" and be enlightened on what is truly the "ONE" and ALL POWERFUL system. I have really been studying this problem. As I have gained understanding and insight I have come to believe that the physicians who are tied to a large system, (The VA or Kaiser) will be at a large disadvantage over time. The bigger a system gets, the harder it is to change. And the more a system tries to be all things to all people, it fails to be the best for anyone. This became clear to me when I learned of the software a local oncologist uses. His software tracks patients and interacts with the National Registry, and it calculates doses. That was an epiphany for me. I instantly understood that he would never give that up, and I would never want to pay for it.
In the meantime Amazing Charts came out with its interface for our lab, and it came out with another up date and another. At least once a week for the past year myself or one of my two partners will have some feature explained to us, and we will say, Oh my God, Thats AMAZING, realize what a corny thing we said and then we all laugh. BUT IMHO AC is growing into THE most powerful tool for primary care. Period. Don't ever loose sight of the fact that you must see patients. Features are worthless if you can't see 30+ patients a day. AC delivers big where it counts.
My dream now is for AC for Family Practice and AC for the Hospital, compatible to share files, but different companies and different solutions for different problems. AC for Oncology and AC for Cardiology. Each has significant and unique needs, not shared by the rest. It is the fields of data we need to share.
