When you go to a doctor’s office, the doctor usually has a chart that is used to maintain health records about you. This week’s article discusses how technology is changing the old system of paper records. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
Should all doctors use electronic health records? If not, why not? How would you encourage doctors to switch to electronic health records? How could the problem of start-up costs be addressed? How might Dr. Ferris have avoided the problems that he encountered? What potential benefits do you see using electronic health records? What potential problems do you see using electronic health records?
Medical Charts Article
18 comments:
In my opinion, not all doctors should use electronic health records, as while it can be efficient for some doctors and better for their patients concerning their understanding of their sessions, some doctors are not able to pay thousands of dollars for such software and then have to deal with it when it malfunctions. I would encourage doctors to switch to electronic health records by displaying advertisements about their benefits and having their manufacturers make special deals with the purchasing doctors so they can afford the prices of the software. I would also have pharmacies use this software because if they do, then the doctors that send prescriptions there would be encouraged. The problem of start-up costs would be addressed by the manufacturers of these software programs allowing the doctors that purchase them to pay for them over a period of time and not all upfront, giving the purchasing doctors time to generate more money so the costs would not hurt them that much. Dr. Ferris might have avoided the problems he encountered by acting like Dr. Brull and sharing the software with other doctors, which would not have caused him to lose his work place and it would have allowed other people to be there with him and help him in paying for the damages or taking care of his patients. The potential benefits that I see with using electronic health records is that it is efficient, saving doctors and patients time, instead of having to rummage through papers. It also allows patients to have a more clear idea about what is going on and their doctor’s opinion about it, as they can get this information printed out at the end of their session with such software being available. However, the potential problems that I see are the thousands of dollars that doctors have to pay to get this software resulting in them losing a lot of money and possibly losing their work area, like Dr. Ferris. Also, since this is all computer-based, doctors may have to face computer malfunctions, which will cost them patients and time. Lastly, just like Dr. Brull said, even when doctors send bills by computers to insurance companies, sometimes such companies try to avoid these bills and never provide care, and when doctors repeatedly do this, it causes them to kind of seem like money-hungry people that cannot let a dollar out of their pocket if it is not for something worth it.
If doctors decide to use electronic health records, they should have a back up paper record for each patient as well so, in the event of an electronic collapse or if the internet is down that day, there is still a record of everything about the patient and the day can continue. I'd encourage doctors to get this system by placing advertisements in some doctor's magazine and then telling them all the benefits and telling them that a trainer will stay with them for some time and teach them how to use it before leaving them alone. I'd recommend for businesses to acquire the system by getting a loan. Not many businesses are capable of just spitting out $30,000- $50,000 for a single system at one time. If he bought a system from a company that created poor systems, then there really wasn't anything that he could do to avoid it. He should have bought from a better company and gotten a trainer to stay with him in his office to help him figure out how to work it. Potential benefits from the system would be quicker appointments and not having to wait so long for records to appear out of the endless file drawers. The problems would only be if the system collapsed, or if like Dr. Ferris a user couldn't figure out how to work the program.
I don't think that all doctors should use electronic health records for several reasons. One being because computers shut down unexpectedly quite often; and a patient's records are quite valuable, definitely not something that can be lost. There is a list of possible malfunctions that a computer could have that could possibly lose all the records kept; thus a doctor could use multiple patients through using electronic health records. I would definitely encourage doctors to use electronic health records through making big deals. I would make deals because they would be appealing since things such as computers are quite expensive; a deal would be fair. Also, I would encourage them through ads in medical magazines, or such. In the advertisements, I would make sure the doctors know what they are getting themselves into. I would do this to avoid trouble later on. I think that the problem of start-up costs can easily be solved by the method of installments; not all the money is paid at once. Therefore the doctor easily has plenty of time to get the money, then slowly pay until the whole price is paid. Dr. Ferris could have avoided the predicament he was put in by asking for help; he did not have to waste that much time fixing computers. He could have simply stopped using them until they were working again. Also, the money could be split up because $38,000 is a lot of money to pay upfront. In my opinion, I don't think these electronic health records should be used. But one of their benefits would be speed; things can get done much quicker because no one is manually writing or mailing or booking anything. Everything is much quicker. Also, another benefit would be the easy access; just a few clicks and you're there! As mentioned, one of the problems would definitely be the potential risk of the systems crashing; it happens quite often, so why not with medical records? I think that's the biggest problem really, many things can be lost which would create a big problem for doctors and their hospitals.
Omar Abdel-Rahim
Similar to my colleagues, I don't truly think that it is a good idea for all doctors to use electronic health records. I would not recommend this for a variety of reasons. First, it would be very risky for a doctor to keep ALL of their data, records, files, and information on a computer, as they are not immune to hacking, nor is the possibility of a malfunction or power outage impossible. Written records and data make this problem impossible. I would encourage doctors to get this electronic health records system by advertising both in medical magazines, and in certain areas like medical websites, online. Also, when advertising, to show all the upsides of their business and promising help if necessary. Start-up costs for businesses could be addressed by slow, steady payments or installments, so the doctor can have enough time to acquire enough money for each payment, then slowly pay them off. It's simple, and easy, and would solve the problem of start-up costs. Mr. Ferris could have solved his problem by asking for help, either from the computer’s manufacturer, or from an electrician. It would have saved him plenty of time and money. The potential benefit I see from electronic health records is how quick, easy, and simple it would be to access your own. It would just take a few minutes of your time, and wouldn’t require much effort. The main problem I can see is what could happen if system failure occurred, and all records were lost. Also, what if the system was hacked, or the computer crashed, as it did with Mr. Ferris.
I think that not all doctors should use electronic health records because what if it breaks they wouldn't know there health records anymore. I would encourage them by telling them they should keep it just in case they need it later. I don't see any problems with Electronic records.
I don’t think that the doctors should use the electronic health records. I don’t think that they should use it because when they are working on the computer, it can all disappear because they probably deleted the information accidently or someone else hacked into the computer and deleted all the files. Another reason is that your computer could possibly stop working and it won’t turn on. The final reason is that if a black-out might happen and you can’t use any technology like computers or any other kind of device so this would mean that you would need to have it on paper somewhere. To encourage the doctors to switch to electronic health records, like many are saying, I can make advertisements and put them in the Internet or put them on paper like newspaper or magazines. The problem of start-up costs can be addressed by making the payments slower because if it is fast the doctors can’t make all the payments correct and he can make an accident. Dr. Ferris have avoided the problem that he encountered by, like Omar said, asking people for help on fixing this. The potential benefits that I see using the electronic health records is that it is fast to get the information you want or the information you put. The potential problems that I see using electronic health records is that you can lose everything you have on it but when you have it down on paper it is never gone unless someone throws it away accidently.
I think that all doctors should use electronic health records because it can save a lot of time and effort. I would probably tell them how user friendly some of these electronics are, and how much easier it is to use them than to manually look up records. The problem of start-up costs can be solved by making the payments slower easier to handle. Dr.Ferris could have solved his problem by asking a professional for help and guidance. Using electronic health records could make the job a whole lot easier by improving speed, accuracy, and easy access. Using Electronic health records could be dangerous if the computer gets a virus or something that might stop the computer from working normally. This could be easily prevented by having one of those USB's with mega storage as backup.
Not all doctors should use electronic health records because it’s not very trustworthy, if they do, they should have a back up record for every patient because if the internet is not working that day, they can still work with that patient. I’d encourage doctors to get this system by advertising in medical magazines and telling all the advantages and benefits they get. I’d recommend for businesses to get this system by getting a loan. Not many businesses have enough money to spend 30k-50k at once. Dr.Ferris should have bought from a better company and he should have got a trainer to stay with him and to help him out. The potential benefits would be quicker appointments because you would not have to search papers until he finds the one he is looking for. The only problem would be if the internet shuts down.
OMAR AL-SADI
I think all doctors should have electronic health records because they have t know the persons history. If a person has a certain type of allergy, the doctors could know and they would be careful while giving medicine or an ejection. I would encourage the doctors to keep it because they might use it in the future. I think the records are very important because of the reasons I listed above. I don’t see any problems using electronic records.
OMAR AL-SADI
I think all doctors should have electronic health records because they have t know the persons history. If a person has a certain type of allergy, the doctors could know and they would be careful while giving medicine or an ejection. I would encourage the doctors to keep it because they might use it in the future. I think the records are very important because of the reasons I listed above. I don’t see any problems using electronic records.
cool- sorry it's late Mr.Beyer but I wrote on the wii blog first thinking it was the one due for today.
I think that if all the staff is trained and if the software is well organized and easy to use, then all hospitals and medical clinics should change over to the electronic system. Not only would it make clinics more efficient, it would also make people better at saving valuable paper that destroys rain forests and natural wood stocks. And there would be very few, if any at all, problems of lost information or something like that because everything would be stored on back up terabyte computers. I would pay, or subsidies for companies to go electronic, and not the cheap versions either, because they crash. Then, people would use them and health care would be better.
Electronic versions of medical organization is useful because nothing is easily used.
I thiikn that electronic trackers can be a good thing. I think that because as teccnology is becoming more and more populare it has becom more relyable, olus if you ahd an electronic health monitor you could easily check the database for past results and compare them to current rsults. I theink the start up cost issue is a problem in itself,I don't think doctors have to pay for such things the government should. IN such inventions there is always a possibility of malfunction. If the Hospitals actually get this, they should always have a real health tracker that they tracked not the computer. Why? Because something malfuncition, I know at my house there are old thermometers that say 20 degrees celcius in a freezer, they are electronic. SO all in all its a good thing to have but you must have a back up just in case the mechanical one breaks down or starts giving you wrong information because dealing with a persons life is no small matter
In my opinion, Not all doctors should use electronic health records because computers shut down unexpectedly quite often. Also, it would be very risky for a doctor to keep ALL of their data, records, files, and information on a computer. I would encourage doctors to get this system by advertising in medical magazines. think that the problem of start-up costs can easily be solved by the method of installments. Dr. Ferris could have solved his problem by asking for help, either from the computer’s manufacturer, or from an electrician. Using electronic health records could make the job a whole lot easier by improving speed, accuracy, and easy access. Potential benefits from the system would be quicker appointments and not having to wait so long for records to appear out of the endless file drawers.
In my opinion, Not all doctors should use electronic health records because computers shut down unexpectedly quite often. Also, it would be very risky for a doctor to keep ALL of their data, records, files, and information on a computer. I would encourage doctors to get this system by advertising in medical magazines. think that the problem of start-up costs can easily be solved by the method of installments. Dr. Ferris could have solved his problem by asking for help, either from the computer’s manufacturer, or from an electrician. Using electronic health records could make the job a whole lot easier by improving speed, accuracy, and easy access. Potential benefits from the system would be quicker appointments and not having to wait so long for records to appear out of the endless file drawers.
Naomi
I think they should. I would tell them it’s easier and faster :) I have seriously no idea how could the problem of start-up costs be addressed. However Dr. Ferris had to be more careful. The potential benefits are that the doctors know what the people are allergic too, and what’s good for them or bad. I don’t see any problems
I think that all doctors should use the electronic medical charts but they also have to have some back up information not on an electronic thing but on a paper or something else, but I think that this is a good idea because it saves time and a lot of effort and its much easier to use and communicate the sickness of the patience with all doctors’ don’t think that the start up technique is a good idea because not the doctors have to pay for the electronic things but the government. I think that Dr.Ferris could have asked for help either from an electrician or a professional person. I think that the electronically medical system has its negative sides like it could shut down unexpectedly that’s why the doctors need backup
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