The Tenuous Balance

The EHR, Safety, and Cost

Excessive regulation & Red Tape = Increased Cost & Impaired Workflows

 

 

As the electronic Health Record marches full force to alter medicine completely, there will be some consequences.

The diagram above represents the battle between goal of patient safety, which attempts to use the EHR to solve problems, control behavior, and create new behaviors.  The problem is the end user is rarely consulted and or considered.  Government regulation forces companies to create products that decrease the ability of the end user to seamlessly integrate into their practices without the use of aids (scribes, assistants, computer jockeys, and voice activated technology, etc.).  The institutions and private practice are using EHR 1.0 and they really need EHR 2.0.  The financial commitment and government subsidies (meaningful use) create an environment of inertia that impedes rapid change to "best of breed" products.