Check-up: Do Docs Need Financial Aid?

posted by Ellen Perlman

One thing a lot of people don't think about when discussing the idea of a national health records exchange is that it all begins in individual doctors' offices. The technological skill set in that diverse crowd varies widely. As does the interest in going electronic. Stating the obvious: If your doctor and his or her staff aren't computer savvy, the medical office isn't going to be very good at getting your lab records via the Internet, now is it?

I know that my doctor still takes handwritten notes while we talk. It would be way more efficient if he just typed notes into a health record created specially for me. But who knows? Maybe he doesn't even know how to type. He certainly didn't grow up blogging, texting or emailing. 

But there's another major stumbling block. To go electronic, medical offices have to invest thousands of dollars in technology and training. Yet many medical offices contain only a few doctors, and their profits have been shaved thin already by changes in insurance and health care. So, it's a big leap for physicians first to invest in the technology, and then to learn how to use it. Time away from patients is money lost. And they've done just fine up to now with their chicken-scratch records.

Louisiana, home to many small-town providers, understands the issue and is trying to do something about it by helping physicians financially. Other states likely are considering doing the same. It seems that any state that wants to encourage the development of a health-record exchange is going to have to examine the "plight" of its physicians. Though it does seem counter-intuitive at first glance.

Comments

[Debbie]

Small town hospitals have similar problems going electronic. ER doctors and staff must learn the systems, which are pretty complicated for many. The hospital must go to the expense of training, purchasing, installing the systems. Doctors may have chicken scratch, but employees learn to read that chicken scratch. Changing systems will have a certain number of errors in the learning process.

You can also bet that trial lawyers will also use this.

[Carolyn Love]

Technology is intimidating to us "older folks" but it really does make life easier - when it is reliable. So the infrastructure must be really good or the system will be frustrating. I know that sounds simplistic, but as a state employee I can attest to frustration with down time now that everything I do is on line. When there is no electricity, there is no way to work. When there is no network access, there is no way to work. And then you are playing catchup afterward. Then again, it is easier to read what is written and I would anticipate that would lead to fewer mistakes - and fewer law suits. We all choose what investments we are willing to make. It would appear that this can not be a small steps endeavor so it will require careful planning!