My friend John Lynn, who runs the Healthcarescene.com, is always warning people to choose their EHR wisely in order to not get hurt later. I could not agree more. After having heard my story throughout various blog posts, my closer readers know that my first attempt was a complete failure.
The post found here about a meltdown in a Delaware office of three doctors echos a lot of what made us cry at the end of the day back in late Janurary of 2010. However, with more doctors on board in their case, there has been (and possibly still is from the sounds of it) more pain, time, money and frustration involved.
For some reason I can’t explain, I found it frustrating that the state government consultant really only is now playing a role in watching as the doctors get to pick up the pieces of their shattered dreams and start over after shoving $40,000+ down the drain to gain “experience” in how to select their next EMR, if they continue at all with it. It does, however, highlight a potentially excellent and much needed role for lists of government-sanctioned EMR systems (which I have been skeptical of in the past) and consultants who can help before doctors jump in unaware and get burned.
Dr. West is an endocrinologist in private practice in Washington, DC. He completed fellowship training in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. West opened The Washington Endocrine Clinic, PLLC, as a solo practice in 2009. He can be reached at doctorwestindc@gmail.com.
