More Joys of Electronic Medical Records

Go up to your favorite emergency department staff member and ask them what they think of “twofers.” Depending on that person’s mood, chances are that you’ll get anything from a scowl to a punch in the gut in response. Two patients from the same family both needing emergent medical care at the exact same time? It still happens … car accidents, fires, maybe a stomach bug. But it can be frustrating. There’s a saying in emergency medicine that the likelihood of a true emergency is inversely proportional to the number of patients in the family registering to be seen. That being said, a “fivefer” will raise the hairs on the back of the neck of pretty much any emergency department personnel. When the complaint is that everyone in the family has a cough, three of the five family members smoke, and none of them got their flu shots … well … you get the picture. One of the frustrations with scenarios like this is the charting involved. The nurse and the doctor are literally stuck at the computer for 30 minutes each, both entering useless information about different patients over and over again – instead of taking care of other patients. The medical records won’t let you proceed without entering the information. Is there a fall risk? Is there a risk for tuberculosis? Does the patient smoke? Nurses have to enter this information even on infants to satisfy government regulations. Is there a risk of danger in the home? ...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Tags: CMS Medical-Legal Medicare Source Type: blogs