Targeted News Service (March, 2013) reported that survey results released by the American College of Physicians showed physician satisfaction declining with the ease of use of the electronic medical records. A key finding in this report was that not only did the transition to electronic medical record take a toll on productivity, but this decreased productivity continued after implementation. “With fewer physicians choosing primary care as their specialty, the demand for primary care physicians is increasing”. (Cheng, 2012) According to Cheng (2012), medical students are staying away from primary care and are choosing to pursue higher paid specialties. Established primary care physicians are retiring earlier rather than accept the lower productivity
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In addition, there was also questions of the integrity of the information that was being input. The doubt about the integrity was a result of the perception that some physicians were creating work-arounds which effected the accuracy of the information. The issue of integrity is another unintended product of the electronic medical record. Not only are there attempts at shortcutting, but this rapid regulatory insistence on implementation has hurried the process into place. Electronic medical record vendors are struggling to streamline the process and deliver systems that interface well with one another. The inability to properly interface causes integrity issues. An example of issues with interfacing properly is software that records a physician’s order for a diagnostic imaging testing sends the order through the electronic medical record but does not capture the reason the test is being requested. The section where the physician records the note for the reason the test is being requested does not transfer with the order. This is an issue I personally have witnessed. The electronic medical record in the facility was implemented four years prior and the facility is still working through the interface issues. Prior to electronic medical records the paper order contained all the necessary information and was transported with the patient. In this example patient care can suffer due to the use of an electronic medical
In addition, there was also questions of the integrity of the information that was being input. The doubt about the integrity was a result of the perception that some physicians were creating work-arounds which effected the accuracy of the information. The issue of integrity is another unintended product of the electronic medical record. Not only are there attempts at shortcutting, but this rapid regulatory insistence on implementation has hurried the process into place. Electronic medical record vendors are struggling to streamline the process and deliver systems that interface well with one another. The inability to properly interface causes integrity issues. An example of issues with interfacing properly is software that records a physician’s order for a diagnostic imaging testing sends the order through the electronic medical record but does not capture the reason the test is being requested. The section where the physician records the note for the reason the test is being requested does not transfer with the order. This is an issue I personally have witnessed. The electronic medical record in the facility was implemented four years prior and the facility is still working through the interface issues. Prior to electronic medical records the paper order contained all the necessary information and was transported with the patient. In this example patient care can suffer due to the use of an electronic medical