Recently I read this article about electronic health records (EHR). In case you don’t have time to read it, the article discusses the problems and risks associated with EHRs. There have been other articles in the past that have said health care providers don’t like EHRs, that they aren’t saving time like they were supposed to, etc.
Personally, I have been through two different hospital EHR conversions and one transition to a new EHR. I have never complained or resisted the change (even though the process is always difficult). This last time, though, has been extremely frustrating. I have not found it “intuitive” or “user friendly.” It feels more like layers upon layers of options and finding the right one – to get to where I want to go – is challenging.
That is my professional experience. As a patient, recently, I’ve had providers ask me about medications I haven’t taken in years. I’ve received printouts from the EHR that say we talked about things we never talked about.
Reading this article not only frustrated me (because it reminded me of my own experience), it scared me. These problems with EHRs could happen to me or my family – wrong medications could be ordered, labs could disappear or never get sent out.
I don’t know what can be done about this, and I hope someone does. Our health is a very important resource and not something to be messed around with.