Doctors, wake up! - Advertisement

Journal of Family Practice, Oct, 2002 by David L. Winn

The July 2002 issue of The Journal of Family Practice featured an article entitled "If electronic medical records are so great, why aren't family physicians using them?" The authors completely missed the point, concluding that electronic medical records (EMRs) were not ready for mainstream use because they were too costly, too slow, and lacked security. Physicians surveyed for the study were largely non-users with preconceived notions based on old, inaccurate, or incomplete information. The real problem with EMRs, or any new technology, is much more complex than this simplistic analysis. Fundamentally, it boils down to physician's perceived lack of time and resistance to change. Despite the obvious benefits of EMRs, busy physicians find it difficult to devote the time to study the different solutions, let alone fully learn the systems for optimum results. Resistance to change is human nature. Like everyone else, doctors are creatures of habit and reluctant to give up the security blanket of paper charts and dictation. The argument that EMRs slow you down just doesn't hold up anymore. FPs in rural settings seeing fifty patients a day are using newer EMR technologies to achieve phenomenal results. Some of these doctors scarcely knew how to turn a computer on before implementing their system, yet they had the courage and wisdom to recognize the value that an EMR brought to their practice. They have been rewarded for their diligence. Most EMR users state they would never give up their EMR and return to dictation or paper. The author's shotgun mentality, denigrating all EMRs, demonstrates poor understanding of the industry today. Instead of demonizing EMRs, its time for doctors to wake up and do a reality check. Now is our time to shine. Implementation of computer technology in clinical care is inevitable. Superior patient care, better outcomes, and higher profitability have been well documented among users of EMRs in the clinical setting. Doctors who insist on living in the past will continue to be marginalized by government mandates (HIPAA), private industry (Leapfrog Group), the insurance industry, plaintiff's attorneys, and even our patients. No wonder so many doctors are leaving medicine. It doesn't have to be this way. We can use new generation EMR technology to help us regain control of the practice of medicine, and provide superior patient care at the same time!

I am committed to EMR adoption and passionate in my vision. What you read here is absolutely, unequivocally accurate and true. I founded e-MDs because I saw a tremendous need. I saw the need to decrease iatrogenic errors and improve patient care, while providing a real world solution for the busy clinician to increase practice revenue and profits. The authors were clearly unaware of e-MDs' commitment to doctors and products for the real world reality of rapid pace medicine. EMRs for the "mainstream market" are here today. New, patent pending EMR technologies in e-MDs' latest products minimize manual data entry, while speeding up the documentation process and increasing practice revenue and profitability. What about security? Compliance with HIPAA security requirements virtually mandates EMR usage to protect patient confidentiality. Are EMRs too costly? If it cost $15,000 annually per doctor (including the initial cost) to implement an EMR, but you make $50,000 more per doctor annually in incremental revenue, then how is an EMR costing you money? The potential to make over $100,000 more per doctor per year in net income is easily achievable (visit e-MDs.com for a white paper and explanation of these results). Our physician testimonials attest to much higher practice profits than were achievable with paper charts. If converting your entire office to paperless seems overwhelming, remember, you don't have to convert everything at once. You can start with a simple scanning system and see an immediate impact on practice efficiency and profitability. When you're ready, e-MDs offers a complete line of integrated clinical and practice management modules. You don't have to worry about a dead-end solution from a single-product vendor, e-MDs provides integrated products for a 100% turnkey solution! We design software for the real world clinical battlefield ... and our entire suite is priced below the single product offerings of many other companies. We understand that change can seem difficult, but physicians and staff who take that first step will rediscover the joy and privilege of practicing medicine.

e-MDs was rated #1 in the AAFP/Microsoft vendor analysis for database design and the customer satisfaction metric "I got my money's worth." Call us at (888) 344-9836, or go to e-MDs.com for more information, and start making money today!