This is the scary reality of what is happening in the ED today. No one is concentrating on the patient anymore, because of the chaos health care providers are working with. Errors are becoming unfortunately more common and patient results are not as good as they use to be. The EHR (Electronic Medical Record) is a big part of the problem. As human we are multi sensory learners. Looking and working in front of a flat screen does not produce quite the best results. This is why we advice limiting screen time in children, also. As a doctor when I hold a paper chart in my hands, I really feel in control of that patient history. That chart is like an interesting book, the fascinating, lively medical history of my patient. I can browse through the pages, which are all color tagged according to notes, labs, consultations, graphics and so on, very quickly and in a very productive way. When I write down with a pen, the simple act of writing makes me thing more carefully about what the patient has told me and it makes me review it in my mind a second time. When I use a screen, my interaction with the patient story is much, much decreased, my thinking process is not at the same heightened level. Everything is flat and much less interesting, for lack of a better word. One of the other doctor in my practice has told me that she frankly does not even read electronic notes,because she is afraid of missing something, so she needs to ask the same questions to the parents over and over again. I could not agree with her more, but this makes our encounter with patients so much less personal. We are projecting the impression of not really knowing our patients and this bothers me greatly. If this is so complicated for an office practice, you can just imagine how you need to escalate this level of discomfort in the crazy routine of the ED. My advice, if you happen to be a patient in any ED today, make sure you question every step and every decision made. This is the unfortunate reality today. I certainly hope we can reverse this course and go back to some degree of sanity. Our health as a Nation is at stake.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:56:30 +0000