Physicians writing on KevinMD about the electronic record and artificial intelligence: what the record did to the visit and who it was built for, alert fatigue and pajama time, human and AI scribes and the minutes they actually save, ambient documentation and its audit risk, and what AI can do in clinical practice now, whether it will replace physicians, and who is responsible when it is wrong. Two maintained records draw on this archive: The electronic health record: what physicians say, in their own words and Artificial intelligence: what physicians say, in their own words.

EMRs can slow medical charting by requiring too much information

Health Technology
February 1, 2010

We have a new EMR system. I like it because I type well. I’m facile at using a keyboard and touch-screen. Not everyone in my group is so blessed, and we’ve had some difficulties using the voice-transcription software. Nevertheless, my gut tells me that in a month or two more, we’ll be getting along with our new system swimmingly. It’s the sort of thing I have wanted for a while, …

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EMRs can slow medical charting by requiring too much information

5 reasons why Apple’s iPad will have trouble in health care

Health Technology
January 30, 2010

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Colin Crawford

The Steve Jobs iPad Tablet media show held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco was always going to have a hard time living up to the ridiculous pre-launch hype that’s been circulating around the Web.

Steve’s presentation was more moderate than at previous product launches as he tried to manage expectations positioning …

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5 reasons why Apple’s iPad will have trouble in health care

Why health IT won’t help with medical risk management

Health Technology
January 28, 2010

The march is on across the American healthcare landscape to implement electronic health records that also function as decision-support systems.

These “advanced” electronic health records will both provide centralized records and assist providers in making care decisions such as implementing therapy and utilizing evidence-based practice on the individual patient level. And anyone that has had the opportunity to work with some of the systems out there knows that they can be …

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Why health IT won’t help with medical risk management

Why there needs to be a national healthcare information database

Health Technology
January 24, 2010

The majority of Americans have a great deal of personal health information in their physician’s medical record. Many of these physicians have an electronic healthcare record (EHR) to store this information.

Unless you are in an integrated healthcare system, and most Americans are not, this information is just not available to you or any physician seeing you who does not belong to the same physician group as your primary physician. Even …

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Why there needs to be a national healthcare information database

Why touchscreen computers are the future for electronic medical records

Health Technology
January 23, 2010

As I explore the latest EMR offerings, and read all the blogs and media releases for and against EMRs, I am forced to wonder, “Has anybody ever asked us doctors what we either want or need?”

Too often it seems the requirements of EMR’s are more suited to organizations, systems, and number-crunchers than to either doctors or our patients. I understand that the data is important, but why should the adaptation …

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Why touchscreen computers are the future for electronic medical records

Did the government get it right on EHR certification?

Health Technology
January 22, 2010

Last week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released criteria that will be used to certify EHRs as appropriate support tools for providers who want to qualify for Bonanza Days.

The criteria are subject to a 60-day comment period before being finalized.

I congratulate ONC on its elegant piece of rule making. Its so-called Interim Final Rule (IFR) provides a foundation that can support years of progress …

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Did the government get it right on EHR certification?

Why physician practices find it difficult to upgrade their computers to Windows 7

Health Technology
January 13, 2010

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Jonathan Bertman, MD

I recently talked about Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system, Windows 7, and outlined several reasons why you might want to purchase it when it comes out this year. Windows 7 will include some really cool features—like multi-touch technology and usability improvements—that can benefit medical practitioners and their office staff.

Because it is in Microsoft’s best interest …

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Why physician practices find it difficult to upgrade their computers to Windows 7

Protecting the security of electronic patient data

Health Technology
January 12, 2010

Originally published on HCPLive.com

If your patient records aren’t already stored digitally, they are likely to be digitized soon. There is a tremendous push by the federal government—as well as by some private payors and self-insured employers—to get all healthcare providers wired in the near future, in order to better coordinate patient care, improve outcomes, and “bend the cost curve” all at the same time. There are some financial incentives in …

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Protecting the security of electronic patient data

Will electronic records raise the legal standard of care and increase malpractice risk?

Physician
December 10, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Robert J. Mintz, JD

As EHRs are widely adopted and the quantity of information about a patient expands dramatically, does provider liability increase even if the quality of care is vastly improved?

What happens if the quality of care really does get better but because of all the new and easily accessible information, the standard of care for …

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Will electronic records raise the legal standard of care and increase malpractice risk?

How health IT can bankrupt healthcare

Health Technology
December 8, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Alberto Borges, MD

For those interested in health information technology, there is now an excellent, new, powerful article about this topic entitled, “Can Cleveland Clinic Be a Model for Digital Medicine?” where they discuss how this hospital system has failed to recoup their $100 million investment to date.

Here is my take on the Cleveland Clinic story, beyond the …

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How health IT can bankrupt healthcare

iPhone medical apps can be improved by Google Android

Health Technology
December 3, 2009

by Felasfa Wodajo, MD

In a recent post, entitled, Why doctors should choose Google Android over the iPhone for medical apps, the author seems to have gone out of his way to make a series of increasingly hyperbolic arguments declaring Motorola Droid superior to the iPhone.

The long trail of negative comments on the site demonstrate that perhaps not all readers were swayed …

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iPhone medical apps can be improved by Google Android

The billions spent on electronic health records, and why there’s no way to know if EHRs will save money

Health Technology
November 30, 2009

Barack Obama is certain that electronic health records (EHRs) can improve the quality of care and the efficiency with which it is delivered. How certain? Certain enough to have bet billions on a program that pays providers to adopt and meaningfully use EHRs.

Of course there are many ways to improve quality and efficiency. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) for example, publishes outcomes data for the states’ 172 …

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The billions spent on electronic health records, and why there’s no way to know if EHRs will save money

The privacy and security risks of electronic health records

Health Technology
November 30, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Anthony Niehaus

As part of the 2009 HITECH Act, a national health information technology infrastructure (NHITI) is required for access and use of electronic health records resulting in a more “effective marketplace, greater competition… [and] increased consumer choice (HITECH Act, Section 3001(b)).”

Such a system is not only necessary, but it is cardinal to improving delivery and reducing costs …

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The privacy and security risks of electronic health records

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How to choose the right electronic health record (EHR) consultant

Health Technology
November 19, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Jonathan Bertman, MD

You may have seen advertisements, or may already have been contacted by people who’ve promised to help you figure it all out so you can get your share of the stimulus money. Be wary. The truth is that the Obama administration is still defining many essential elements of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and full details about the …

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How to choose the right electronic health record (EHR) consultant

Implementing an EMR or health IT system is harder than it looks

Health Technology
October 31, 2009

In 2001, when my colleagues and I ranked nearly 100 patient safety practices on the strength of their supporting evidence (for an AHRQ report), healthcare IT didn’t make the top 25. We took a lot of heat for, as one prominent patient safety advocate chided me, “slowing down the momentum.” Some called us Luddites.

Although we hated to be skunks at the IT party, we felt that the facts spoke for …

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Implementing an EMR or health IT system is harder than it looks

Google Android versus the iPhone for medical apps

Health Technology
October 20, 2009

by Jeff Brandt

Verizon, Motorola, and Google, along with 9 other cell phone manufactures and countless world carriers, have teamed up to provide a smartphone with the power to deliver useful applications for medicine: the Verizon “Droid” smartphone, based on the Google Android operating system (OS).

The Droid’s processor is the same processor that powers the iPhone. The main reasons this …

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Google Android versus the iPhone for medical apps

Data entry in EMRs, and why doctors are slow to adopt information technology

Health Technology
September 17, 2009

The Obama healthcare plan hinges on savings achieved through the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs) and pays doctors $44,000 over 5 years for hardware and software to embrace this evolving technology. Let us not forget however, that garbage in produces garbage out, for instance, information not suitable for medical decision making.

In reality, data entry is daunting and by far the most expensive aspect of converting to electronic records. Huge …

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Data entry in EMRs, and why doctors are slow to adopt information technology

A personal health record and using the PHR on a mobile smartphone

Health Technology
September 16, 2009

by Jeff Brandt

There is much confusion about Personal Health Record (PHR) in the market today.

PHRs are divided into three groups; Mobile SmartPhone (mPHR), Cloud Apps, and other devices such as USB and Smartcards. Each type of PHR serves a different purpose and provides a useful and needed service. I will speak to the strengths and weaknesses of each of them.

Web Apps/Cloud PHR

These are browser based systems that need to be …

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A personal health record and using the PHR on a mobile smartphone

AMA: Health information technology help for physicians

Health Technology
June 11, 2009

The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association.

by Joseph M. Heyman, M.D.

Health information technology (HIT) remains a hot button issue for many physicians, and opinions run the gamut. There are physicians and practice managers who are satisfied long-time users and those who question how HIT will benefit their practice and their patients.

My own experience is that of a solo-practitioner using HIT …

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AMA: Health information technology help for physicians

6 top medical comments, May 31st, 2009

Health Technology
May 31, 2009

Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.

1. Dr. Grumpy on the art of medicine and electronic medical records:
I do use an EMR, but patient’s routinely tell me I’m good at listening. I think it’s an individual basis. Some doctors are technophiles, and put that first. That ain’t right. Some doctors are so intent on listening, that they may forget a detail, and then it …

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6 top medical comments, May 31st, 2009

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