1) take up invaluable time entering in more data (this cannot be repeated enough). *** and ICD-10 makes it FAR worse ***
2) create reimbursement systems based on what is documented moreso than what is done. *** agreed, ironically ICD-10 was supposed to help this. NOT! ***
3) are at times unweidly <— getting better, but yeah.
4) inevitably go down from time to time. <— and paper file get lost/ found/ lost/ found ;-)
The VA has an awesome electronic medical record that has been made available FOR FREE, but no one takes them up on it. Why? Even the military won’t use it, which makes no sense to me. I imagine this is all a result of favorite political donors feathering their nests. I remember in the old days when physicians had someone who would do their ancillary documentation for them—now physicians are expected to do everything themselves. Also, as someone who relies on EMR records for research, what happens in real life with these systems is a whole lot of cutting and pasting from previous documentation, and contradictory information between the autofill fields and what they physicians document in their notes.