opinion

EHR negatives outweighing benefits

LETTER — Posted May 28, 2012

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We have just implemented an electronic health record in our office, and I have to say the negatives far outweigh any benefit. Transitioning over and inputting the data is incredibly inefficient and time-consuming. EHR vendors need to design their systems to be more patient care rather than billing oriented. Also, all these systems do not interface with each other, so we still have the problem of accessing information when a patient has been in another hospital or doctor’s office.

Until these systems become more efficient to use and can be accessed more readily by other providers, the negatives will continue to outweigh the benefits.

William Pentz, MD, Philadelphia

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/05/28/edlt0528.htm.

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