Open Source Software and the Path to EHR Heaven (Part 1 of 2)

Do you feel your electronic health record (EHR) is heaven or hell? The vast majority of clinicians–and many patients, too, who interact with the EHR through a web portal–see it as the latter. In this article, I’ll describe an EHR heaven and how free and open source software can contribute to it. But first an old joke (which I have adapted slightly). A salesman for an EHR vendor dies and goes before the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter asks him, “Would you like to go to heaven or hell?” Surprised, the salesman says, “I didn’t know I had a choice.” Saint Peter suggests, “How about this. We’ll show you heaven and hell, and then you can decide.” “Sounds fair,” says the EHR salesman. First they take him to heaven. People wearing white robes are strumming harps and singing hymns, and it goes on for a long time, till they take him away. Next they take him to hell. And it’s really cool! People are clinking wine glasses together and chatting about amusing topics around the pool. When the EHR salesman gets back to the Pearly Gates, he says to Saint Peter, “You know, this sounds really strange, but I choose hell.” Immediately comes a clap of thunder. The salesman is in a fiery pit being prodded with pitchforks by dreadful demons. “Wait!” he cries out. “This is not the hell I saw!” One of the demons answers, “They must have shown you the demo.” Most hospitals and c...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record EMR Alert Fatigue Electronic Medical Record EHR Free Software Healthcare Analytics Healthcare Interoperability Healthcare Reform Open Source EHR Open Source Software Standards Vista Source Type: blogs