Another Sign The EHR Experiment is Producing Undesired (But Predictable) Results: ED EHRs Produce No Efficiency Gains

Adverse results that run counter to the industry meme of healthcare IT exceptionalism are coming fast and furious.  It's hard for me to keep up with it all.In addition to my post today "EHR Exceptionalism Debunked: Care Quality Variances Among VA Hospitals Suggest the True Value of Health IT Has Been Grossly Exaggerated" (http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2014/06/ehr-exceptionalism-debunked-care.html), here's another.I won't comment on this very much:http://www.jwatch.org/na34646/2014/05/30/electronic-charting-less-efficient-paper-chartingMay 30, 2014 Is Electronic Charting Less Efficient Than Paper Charting?Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH reviewing Ward MJ et al. Ann Emerg Med 2014 Jun.Operational performance was similar before and after computerization at 23 community emergency departments.The federal government has provided $17 billion in incentives to computerize healthcare. The potential benefits include improved error checking, decision support, better billing, and more data for research. However, some research has suggested that going paperless adversely affects productivity.To further examine this issue, investigators measured operational efficiency 6 months before and 6 months after implementation of an electronic health record system at 23 community emergency departments. No significant differences between the two time points were found in all efficiency factors that were measured, including time to provider, lengths of stay, walkouts, patient satisfaction, patients...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Management Tags: healthcare IT difficulties healthcare IT exceptionalism healthcare IT oversell Source Type: blogs