i was in optometrist tues. and she was griping about obama. he is making them have to put records

in the computer. there is now a computer in every room, and they are spending a lot of time with the patient trying to figure out how to get the info into computer. i figured it was the program she was using and she blamed it on obama.

does anyone know what she is griping about?

to do basic data entry and doesn't want to learn it or hire someone to do it.

necessity of having this implemented, if there is an argument, or be informed to know if has anything to do with obama.

what the facts are. how she can blame obama and if it is a valid complaint.

being informed so when she argues this is obamas fault i know what the fuck i am talking about

back in, but glad you were really kind enough to find it for me. thank you. an incentive. they are getting an incentive. wish i knew about this when the woman was talking.

thank you. on the stimulas package.

appreciate

My MD buddy told me most clinics had been going to computer records back in 2004 at least.

love, embrace, insist on it.

but look at du when we have changes and people get up in arms. some embrace change better than others.

;D

i am in their.... like to fuck with ya... circle.

Only seeing what is in their building.

Too narrow sighted to see the big picture.

is the full name or if it paraphased). Also I think the new insurance bill mandated computer records so they could be shared (which to me is a problem--I think there is the issue of abuse when all have so easy access to your private health records).

...when hospitals started outsourcing medical transcription to other countries years ago?

EMR's reduce cost, make a huge difference in the number of errors, improve patient health outcomes and save lives. I've seen the difference personally, and it's quite substantial.

If you change doctors or if you are traveling and have a medical emergency, your records can be accessed quicker.

I have seen this work with my dad, he was traveling and had a heart attack, the hospital where he went was able to get to his records and determine best treatment.

There must be some safeguards to help protect privacy issues. I think global access to your medical records is great.

when records are shared. The old way was a gold mine for cheaters.

bought friggin time.

year and a half ago. It was horrible in the beginning. Now, I don't know what I'd do without it. Yes, you can still make errors. But, we all can
share information so much better. Every time I see a patient anyone in the agency can see my note or see medication updates. It all takes longer. But, before we relied on voicemail to update pt information. It was INSANE.

That would be my concern.
Is the puter info staying only on premises???
What safeguards are in place to prevent hacking?

at least the majority of the staff can not. Medical records can be accessed by other hospitals in network,but again only by authorized personnel. It was a lot easier to make a mimeo copy of a page of a paper chart back in the old days.

for a few minutes you have to log in again. We change our passwords every few months. To me knowing the right information regarding pt's medications and allergies is the most important aspect of it all.

and no way they would do without. i was looking for policy so i at least was informed to be able to discuss with doctor.

it is just not worth it. you guys have a good day.

now...the fact that it is mandatory for all medical staff to do so is an evolving process.But,it is actually for their protection.

and not me as a patient. There is nothing like quality of care when someone has parked herself behind a laptop and stared at the screen instead of me. I am not even sure she shook my hand. Kept telling me I was nuts when I told her my thyroid storms were coming back. She kept telling No Way, blah blah blah. Guess what, the labs came back that my thyroid was going hyper again. Yeah, great care, but hey! She got my data entered....:sarcasm:

the FOUR times i have been in this office this week, with different people. they are not familiar with system. but it is irritating, in a small degree and takes a lot more time. though, the doctor well took care of my son. as the other doctor did tuesday. just wasnt as fast getting thru.

on a computer that was stolen out of an employee's car.

Of course...the letter I got in the mail informed me it was my responsibility to watch my insurance statements to make sure nobody was using my insurance card without my permission...

hubby in computer and has set it up in many offices. doctors love it. but still, looking for fact

Don't forget that it was only Obama who actually took the time during the 2008 campaign to even bring up how important it is for the healthcare industry to go electronic.

It's no coincidence that one of the more prominent EHR vendors is based in Chicago. There are some long-standing relationships.

Bush pushes computerized medical records
President says technology would reduce cost and errors

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6876192/ns/health-health_ca... /

See post 37

Certainly the technology was available, but 2008 represented a point in the adoption curve that included only early adopters and those who had waited for the early adopters. Practice management systems, however, were extremely prevalent (even in the 80's and 90's).

Also keep in mind that there's a fundamental difference between an electronic health record and a document management system. Plain ol' scan-and-store system were very common when Obama took office. Now I am left to struggle yanking all of that data out and moving it into a real health information system. :)

Once they got used to the system,it saved them a lot of grief regarding medical records audits.
ALL hospitals and healthcare agencies have electronic records now.It is a patient safety issue.

works that computer like a champ.

Obama? Really?

I'd be more pissed off at the fact that my eyeglass/contact script expires every freaking year! But I guess the optometrists like it...more cash, ya know? :-)

issue with fact.

I am blind as a bat, been wearing contacts for three decades now ...

Our insurance for eyes has a two year coverage, you can only get an exam every two years paid for.

They won't let you order contacts with a script less than a year old.

SO, if you don't blow out and get a year plus supply at about 9 months, you have to pay for an exam to get them.

AND, they double down on the exam cost for contacts ...

S C A M ...

Most likely your optometrist and maybe the software are at fault. She doesn't see the big picture for her office in savings. How long does it take to find a patient's record? Is it easier to find the records? How long does it take to print out a statement to the patient? How long does it take to send out bills? How much easier is it to schedule appointments or notify patients that it is time for another appointment? How much space is saved because of less paper?


In a different field, I have a dentist that also uses their computer to accept xray input. He can view the results. He can do teeth reconstruction on the computer and once he is satisfied with the shape it is also programmed with the ability to mill the crown for the tooth to the desire specs. It naturally costs a bit up front but with the added ability of doing it in the office instead of sending it out he can make more.

i wonder if she got a poor program, too. but these are good points to bring up. hubby in computer and he has set up many doctors and they love it. but i wanted the facts what it has to do with obama.

of that learning is already learned because it carries over from other software. If anyone had Windows when it first came out along with any office software they know that how features are used usually carries over. And even other non Windows applications tend to copy the same short cuts and features.

She needs to understand that if she applies herself it will help her do her job better and faster.

It has been my experience that I don't know everything about every software I use. I don't need to. I learn the basics and when there is something else I need to know I figure it out. Overall, I know more than at least 90% of the those that use the same programs I use. If she hasn't already, she should learn every shortcut key so she can minimize the use of the mouse to select operations.

She should think of the computer as her friend at work.

"Wah-wah-wah...we have to have electronic records for all of our patients now! Obamacare...blah-blah-blah."

more of a case of his own resistance to change, and Obama and the new health care laws made a convenient scapegoat. I also recall he made a comment about something that Rush Limbaugh had said on his show earlier that day, so he "outed" himself as a regular listener.

That partially contributed to my decision to seek out a new optometrist at that point!

as i am of theirs. but i am seeing was in the stimulus package and 4 yr period can receive incentives for going this route. penalties i believe after 2015.

Yep, I even got a 'who is going to pay for it(poor people)' followed up by a 'where does it say in the constitution anything about medical care'. No shit, teabagger quotes from my doctor.

I guess seeing me for literally 5 minutes or less and charging my insurance like 150 bucks of which I pay 65 bucks is just not enough money for him.

Edit: Forgot to add he complained about not typing for 30 years and young/inexperienced he thought the lady training him had been.

It could have been the insurance companies he deals with etc, if you heard the rant you'd understand why I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Now I will say that it was nice for me personally to have it on computer he digitally sent my perscriptions rather then me running them across town which was great, so for me personally there was already a savings in drive time/gas etc.

than one fax line. when a fax is coming in, cant use the credit cards. waited 20 minutes to pay, lol.

i did see some good with the system. they just print out the perscriptions ect....

they just need to get used to them

there's no reason they can't have a separate line for the fax and the cc machine.

She is struggling now because everything has to go on the computer, and the learning curve is just too steep.

I have never heard it blamed on Obama, though.

seems like was in stimulus package in '09. it is hard for older. so many in that office was strugglin

more than 25 years ago.

Most likely the software was implemented in reaction to the stimulus being offered directly to doctor's via the HITECH act.

If provider's demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records and e-prescribing, they can receive up to $44,000 a year from the government. This stimulus is designed to accelerate the adoption of EHRs in an industry that is too often scared of technology and change. The end result will be better care, safer care, portability of your personal health care information and lower costs for everyone.

Her office was not required to implement the software and it has absolutely nothing to do with "ObamaCare." The HITECH act was part of the first stimulus Obama pushed for in 2009.

That all said, EHRs can be a huge pain to implement and use if you make the wrong vendor choice.

but I was thinking the same thing about your last line. There are many types of software programs and the provider should look at size and scope before picking one that could bring on headaches.

about what she would be getting back, lol

nt

nobody is ensuring that these computer records can't be hacked. You are forcing
non-technical people to spend a lot of money to put technology in the work place.

Do you think they will understand how easily it is that these computers can be hacked?

Forcing people to computerize medical records without safeguards in place, I think is stupid.

they are going to hire someone who knows wtf they are doing. it is up to them, to get a responsible vendor. like getting a good plumber or electrician

I think the move toward Electronic Health Records is being driven by the insurance companies themselves. This trend started before Obama took office.

There *are* Medicaid and Medicare incentive programs to encourage use of EHR so maybe practices who had been putting it off are now getting on board with it.

Bush pushes computerized medical records
President says technology would reduce cost and errors

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6876192/ns/health-health_care/t/bush-pushes-computerized-medical-records/

Also:

"Title II of HIPAA, known as the Administrative Simplification (AS) provisions, requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers.<1>

"The Administration Simplification provisions also address the security and privacy of health data. The standards are meant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's health care system by encouraging the widespread use of electronic data interchange in the U.S. health care system."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIPAA

All these new regulations were Obama's fault she said.

I gave her the stink eye and asked her if she had ever been taught about the Dust Bowl when she went to school?

She said she had not.

I told her to Google "Dust Bowl" once.

Don

I would use it a lot. It is pretty descriptive.

Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked it.

:hi:

Don

...our country has a black, Democratic President. Either would tick her off.

changing anything related to HOW they've become accustomed to performing their documentation within their own practices. In this day and age, you'd have to wonder how they got through medical school without becoming a literate computer user. Of course, there are still "old timers" out there practicing effectively and ethically, combining the science and art of medicine. That said, software is often chosen by office managers and installed for use without proper in-services to educate the ultimate "responsible" users. (Just what does that icon mean; what is its function?) Of course, it's also a problem if the chosen software is poorly designed or tweeked.

Documentation is sometimes purported to be performed in-country but can also be made only to appear so, actually being performed offshore.

I've seen services "autofax" finished product with blanks and with obvious errors, i.e., left versus right, inappropriately named medications, signed DICTATED BUT NOT REVIEWED TO EXPEDITE DELIVERY by the responsible party, THE DOCTOR. I'd imagine this "routine" documentation is also then merely initialed and charted at the other end without so much as a scanning glance until the patient shows up again; it could just as easily wind up in the real or virtual trashcan when sent to the wrong place where document security isn't a priority; hence someone's information doesn't get on his/her chart at all. In my town, doctors move around the community like gypsies and often don't bother to update their information in the NPI, on their web site, or their stationery.

Doctors say that they just don't have time to do that review, but they can take on personal challenges that require extensive training (and time) like running a marathon or climbing Mt Everest. Of course, they are entitled to personal time but IMO not at the expense of their responsibility to complete an important and necessary aspect of their duties.

Large practices STILL use magnetic tape recorders because some docs will refuse to change their methods or learn to use new equipment. Some refuse to use that, preferring their illegible handwriting. Because they know that updating will cost big bucks, they fail to keep pace until they can totally eliminate the need to purchase ANY EQUIPMENT. Fully depreciated, they still pay out big bucks just to have it repaired as it becomes broken more often. BTW, transciptionists are seen as equipment not employees that have a stake in patient care; hence lowest-cost foreign entities get contracts to perform services once done down the hall or in the back office by committed members of their team and where documentation could be performed STAT. Life comes at you fast, after all, and we'll get around to telling the story later, sometimes much later.

Accurate/timely documentation is only important when it is; a report might be turned around in 24 hours only to sit on the physician desk for a week to a month; docs see documentation as a necessary yet evil time-waster as their memories are like elephants and they pay exorbitant fees to their malpractice firms/arbitrage firms for defense in case it isn't. For most doctors under pressure to see more patients, order less tests, and still protect their "without reproach" reputations and their ability to drive Porche's, it's a real corundum to DO NO HARM.

Changes that disrupt their style are at best frustrating to them and, at worst, dangerous to patients and the privacy one has come to expect regarding medical care and its requirement for documentation.

And this is just a minor issue compared to the fact that we'll all soon be paying out the nose for services we can't access, but the elite and/or foolish newly indebted wage-slaves can and will, because the made poor and the less fortunate have only limited means to pay for what that mandated insurance doesn't cover.

Obama has his faults, but he's not responsible for automating the medical record; he is responsible for so many continuing to become out of work via globalists, banksters, and the MIC. He's also failed to hold GOPers and DEMs alike accountable for the domestic terrorism practiced through corruption and greedy self-interest that supports OCD money hoarder elites and war. He's only half trying.

END OF RANT

and doctors who are resistant to keeping up with same,
I think your "rant" is spot on with the added benefit of being very well articulated.

incentive for this change over. not really much to bitch about, but it is hard, because it is new.

i had one (younger) gal today saying meh... not a big deal for her. she say, kinda mellow and laid back about this stuff.

but they also had a big office upheaval and a lot of new from office manager that was screwing the boss, until she got thrown out. big drama drama story. i think that is part too. they are taking some of her new ideas and trashing them, going back to the old.

mandated by the Affordable Health Care for America Act (i.e., Obamacare). The law established deadlines for electronic medical record (EMR) implementation. Healthcare providers who have not implemented EHR technology by 2014 will face Medicare fee schedule reductions. Those who don't implement an EMR system by 2015 will be assessed significant penalties by Federal law.

It costs a typical small office (single doc with staff of 5) about $45,000 - $50,000 to implement an EMR system. Additionally, smaller offices that aren't already heavily computerized may need to invest another $20,000 - $60,000 in network setup, additional computer stations/tablets for staff, and another $15,000 - $20,000 per year in ongoing system maintenance costs. A larger office with multiple doctors (say a group of 5 - 10 doctors) can easily spend $150,000 - $200,000 to implement.

This cost does not include the extra time and lost productivity by doctors and staff to learn the new system, which can be considerable. The industry is rife with horror stories of how it took multiple attempts to get a system successfully implemented.

This cost will be passed on to patients.

but i agree with your info. on the other hand, hubby in computer business and has a major part of his business with medical, setting these up and supporting them.

Their system costs a million. He's selling the practice. Wanna buy a neurology practice in northern Indiana?

They believe their time is too valuable to be wasted on organizational issues -- that would help them not waste their time.

I want my specialists keeping up-to-date on the latest medical literature, not typing up my notes on their computer. Too much time and money has been spent by them in college and medical school to now be viewed as a medical transcriptionist just so the hospital can save on their bottom line.

I knew lawers at a firm that made the same complaint. A few years later they were doing twice the work with only a slight increase in the number of lawyers. The old-timers marvel at how much more work they are able to get done once they started applying technology.

A major expense for a small business owner... especially one who's probably been doing fine for many years with the old system.

Can you tell I'm in sales?

people's files were 3 inches thick. They went all computer and all those files had to be scanned in. It is a slow process. But it will save millions in the end.

it did incentivize adoption, but by no means requires them.

It provided grants to pay for the systems, and gives bonuses to medicare reimbursement for adoption.

They save money.
They reduce errors.
They improve health outcomes.
They save lives.

If it were me, I would find a new optometrist, right away. If it had been me in the chair, I would have likely said thank you, but I think I will seek care elsewhere, and left.

Your post is all theory no proof.

Seriously - if the doc has that much of a problem with computers, he or she needs to hire 2-3 data entry clerks, use an industry standard CRM, and have them enter all of the paper stuff to the database. They can also use word-recognition scanners, but that can take longer since you have to go through the data and make sure it translated correctly.

During the 90's, if you had a linear-type personality, you could do fairly well for youself doing this.

had medical records inside of a computer:)..Where HAS this woman been?

Of course since doctors still write everything down in a folder, those records also must be kept. Perhaps they are having to now scan those into computers too. I do not see doctors giving up the writing it all down part anytime soon.

That woman should thank her lucky stars that she has work to do...putting it all in the computer:) If she pitches too big of a fit about it, the doctor may just hire some techies to do that job and she'll be flipping burgers:)

It was inserted into legislation by the Medical Industrial Complex and their accomplices in the Democratic Party so that future generations will think "medical privacy" is some kind of chimerical nonsense term from the past, or else a deliberate contradiction in terms, designed by some long-lost mystical sect as an insurmountable mental calisthenic to break down the world views of their novices.

reducing the amount of times a person has the same test done. For example, a few years ago, I ended up having at least 3 ultrasounds done in a short period of time for the same problem (first by primary physician, then by a specialist, then by a new specialist). Pres. Obama says one physician should be able to email a new physician or a specialist the results from costly tests so that they don't have to be repeated. Of course, in some cases, a new test is unavoidable.

Of course, I now work for an EHR vendor, so I'm not entirely unbiased. But I've also worked in a health care setting, and trying to translate scrawled doctor notes on a chart is not an easy thing.

You aren't limited to 140 characters when you type here. It'd help us out a lot more if you can type more than two sentences when you type here.

Just a suggestion. :shrug:

you do not have to be on my thread. everyone on this thread handled the OP well.

you dont like my posts, dont read my posts. just a suggestion. :shrug:

edit: seems to me i said what i had to say in the OP. are you looking for filler? why? why would i be so disrespectful to the reader?

are computerized, it should not be mandated by the govt

before Obama got into office. (I had an elderly mother and stepfather who were hospitalized on occasion.)

kick