Why should you care about EHR?

Having worked in several hospitals over the past 10 years, only twice have I used electronic health records (EHR) for documentation. 


Seem crazy? It is. Especially being from a generation that grew up with computers. It is archaic and unfathomable to my peers, (who work outside of health care) that institutions as important as hospitals would still use paper records. 

A recent article from Bloomberg provides more background on the issue.

(*this article was published before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was upheld.  previously, the HITECH Act addressed the necessity of EHR)

I wish I could photograph some of the hospital charts I work with and post them on this blog... to share with others the hieroglyphic-like handwriting of doctors that I'm somehow expected to decipher. Not only is it unreasonable and ridiculous, its unsafe. If I miss a 'Hold tx' order for a test to rule out diagnoses like neuro-vascular accidents, I could potentially jeopardize patient safety through my intervention. 


Speaking from experience as a clinician familiar with EHR, it significantly improves your ability to provide quality care. Having immediate access to legible notes from every medical team involved in the patient's care (*typically there are several specialties involved in a patient's plan of care) allows you to quickly develop an informed clinical picture that guides your rationale for treatment. It also increases productivity, allowing you to digest twice, if not thrice as much information in one sitting.


In addition, your records are always more in depth because you're able to type so much quicker than you write (shocking!). Thorough documentation is helpful to everyone else who interacts with the patient throughout the day, and paints a much more detailed picture of their status from hour to hour. 


Conversion to EHR is an ongoing evolution that will require a lot of patience, effort (read: money) and time. However, its estimated that under new legislation which incentivizes computerized documentation, 50% of private practices and hospitals will be functioning on EHR by the end of this year.


For my designer friends out there, think about the possibilities of creating a system that adheres to HIPAA standards, allows doctors from various health systems to exchange information, and offers a simple interface that is sexy and easy to learn (two elusive terms in health care vernacular). Surprisingly enough, this magical system doesn't yet exist, and several of the largest software companies in the world are still trying to resolve the issue. In an attempt to dominate the market, each company has created their own system which doesn't communicate with other systems (sounds familiar). So what are you waiting for, designers?