In regard to portability and ease-of-use, competing with a pen and piece of paper is difficult. We all know how a pen works, paper is lite and is easily moved about – there is no “down time” or “learning curve”; in addition, pharmaceutical and medical device companies will gladly give you all the pen’s you might desire.
The downside of pen and paper is that the information contained on paper doesn’t aggregate well. You can’t look back through it easily to assess what works and what does not. In earlier days when a family physician took care of you from cradle to grave, it wasn’t a problem; as long as the physician stayed alive, he or she was a biologic historical database of what went on in a patients life. Today, however, with highly specialized and fictionalized care, it’s a problem. So why not the sluggish acceptance of EHR’s in the private sector.
To the casual observer the perception is that costs are real, and benefits vague. These excuses are self-damaging and weak minded. Time to get busy.
In this piece regarding Electronic Health Records and Clinical Trials from Chris Thorman of Software Advice speaks to one legitimate benefit often talked about, but seldom realized. True, the use of practice data in clinical trials is limited, but it’s not zero, and it grows over time. Identifying subtle changes in treatments over time, or simply identifying patients for whom detailed clinical studies are appropriate, will contribute to improving efficiency of bringing new drugs and treatments to market. In so doing, a faster path to market results in a longer period under patent protection, and higher product lifetime valuation with lower costs.
In the end it looks like this: the medical practice of the future needs to begin now to design itself toward increasing its efficient and percent of total annual revenue from cash. This means providing services for which patients will pay cash along with discovering new means by which practices can contribute value and receive compensation outside the existing constraints of third party payment. This includes EHR’s, but also means a way patients can create appointments on their own schedule 24/7, along with a means by which medical practices can keep in closer communication with their patients.
There is no stability or efficiency in health care without successful and vibrant medical practices. It’s time for every practice to find an EHR that works for them and put it to use, along with systems and processesto build and manage closer relationships with their patients.
