The Time is Wrong

The following e-mail is in response to my Edit Memo from the February issue:

When the Time is Right
by Anthony Guerra, Editor-in-Chief
Physician EMR adoption will explode when doctors are comfortable with their risk calculation

Letter:

I appreciate your thoughts on the physician adoption of EMR

I have had EMR in my office for 14+ years. It is a competitive disadvantage to have due to cost, maintenance and lack of interoperability. I live in a community with a "free" EMR and it is NOT free, as a matter of fact it is expensive.

When a physician adopts an EMR they need to keep the infrastructure of paper in place as the substitutes are expensive and time consuming (scanning, buying interfaces etc). Thus costs go up and NO reimbursement advantage is obtained.

I agree with your conclusion that the real reason to go thru the transition is money not "improved patient care". As such, we will not do it in mass until money talks.

cort

Cort Garrison, MD
Medical Director of Informatics
Salem Hospital
[email protected]
503-561-6058