We have a new electronic medical health record system at our hospital. It was introduced with what I believe is a short and ineffective training program for physicians followed by a far too short on-location use of experts to help the doctors and nurses learn the new system. It is frankly a pain in the neck to access the computer from outside the hospital due to the multiple layers of security and passwords you must use. It is simpler and less complicated at the hospital, but the request for frequent change of the password for security purposes makes remembering the password problematic for me especially when I am sitting in the ER at 2:00 a.m. sleep deprived and wanting to get home.
On an average day, the computer adds a minimum of 10 minutes of work per patient seen. We have electronic health records to comply with the massive number of Federal mandates requiring it and to avoid the financial penalties for not complying. The Feds offered each hospital an 11 million dollar incentive for putting in these systems which made their decision to computerize far simpler.
Recently, when I made rounds and attempted to access the computer, a brand new screen greeted me. On the left-hand side it instructed me to tap my ID badge against the screen for an automatic log in access. On the right-hand side was the traditional login screen.
I must be fair and admit the hospital did notify staff to stop by the medical staff office to be issued a new ID badge which would provide easy access to the system. Since that office opens at 8:00 a.m., and I am usually there earlier than that, I had not yet picked up my new badge. So I used the right-hand side of the screen and accessed it the traditional way typing in my user ID and current password. A swirling circle appeared and swirled for three minutes. Then another screen appeared for two minutes. By this time I was annoyed and frustrated. A kind nurse noticed my frustration and told me that when you attempt to log into the new screen the first time, it takes about 10 minutes to be logged onto the system. I sat patiently until finally I was let in.
The delay in access pushed me back 10 minutes. By the time I finished rounds it was 8:00 a.m. I stopped by the medical staff office on the way to my office and asked for my new ID card. I also asked if I could keep my old ID card as well because over the last 40 years I had become attached to it. We needed that ID card to swipe our way into the parking lot, into the building and onto the elevators and certain hospital floors and units.
I was told I needed to keep my old ID card as my new card was to be used only for computer access. It would not get me into the parking lot or the building or special floors and units. They gave me a fancy new ID card holder that accommodates two ID cards.
That’s the high-tech world’s idea of efficiency and progress.
Steven Reznick is an internal medicine physician and can be reached at Boca Raton Concierge Doctor.
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