Doctors using electronic medical records

Marian
Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:29:25 +0000

My primary care physician and my dermatologist are both struggling with the transition to electronic medical records. Neither is a computer expert, and both have solo practices. So when problems arise with the system, it is extremely disruptive to their work.

And they definitely look at the screen and ignore the patient.

I can see some advantages – the system tells the doctor when the patient is due for routine preventive services, like colonoscopies and immunizations, and it generates electronic prescriptions, which decrease confusion at the pharmacy. But this comes at the cost of spending time actually interacting with the patient.