Stanford authors: Evolutionary Pressures on the Electronic Health Record - "Deimplementing the EHR could actively enhance care in many clinical scenarios"

A brief post.  In this new JAMA article by Stanford authors:

Evolutionary Pressures on the Electronic Health Record
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2545405 

Donna M. Zulman, MD, MS^1,2; Nigam H. Shah, MBBS, PhD³; Abraham Verghese, MD⁴

I note the passage:

... Deimplementing the EHR could actively enhance care in many clinical scenarios. Simply listening to the history and carefully examining the patient who presents with a focused concern is an important means of avoiding diagnostic error.7 Many phenotypic observations (the outline of a cigarette packet in a shirt pocket, or spotting neurofibroma, fasciculation, or rash) change the diagnostic algorithm and are easy to miss when work revolves around the computer and not the patient.

I predict pushback against such a bold and contrarian "de-implementation" assertion (contrarian to the hyper-enthusiast and industry narratives, that is).

The authors continue:

There is building resentment against the shackles of the present EHR; every additional click inflicts a nick on physicians’ morale. Current records miss opportunities to harness available data and predictive analytics to individualize treatment. Meanwhile, sophisticated advances in technology are going untapped. Better medical record systems are needed that are dissociated from billing, intuitive and helpful, and allow physicians to be fully present with their patients.

 

I also wrote the primary author with a link to an alternate solution to de-implementation that can "allow physicians to be fully present with their patients", namely, my Aug. 9, 2016 post "More on uncoupling clinicians from EHR clerical oppression" at http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2016/08/more-on-uncoupling-clinicians-from-ehr_91.html

 

-- SS