Here’s a quick look around the Twittersphere and a few topics that stood out to me that I think might be of interest to you.
1| See our latest: predicting #hospital #readmissions in #pneumonia w/ #EHR data https://t.co/XeNzAWJjOY @OanhKieuNguyen @JHospMedicine pic.twitter.com/Vj6e4tjloi
— Anil Makam, MD (@AnilMakam) April 12, 2017
.@OanhKieuNguyen @JHospMedicine 2| Can predict w/ #EHR data from only 1st day, better if use entire #hospital stay data; vital signs & updated PSI at dc r robust predictors
— Anil Makam, MD (@AnilMakam) April 12, 2017
I’ve been following algorithms like this for a while and they’re really starting to come into their own. This type of predictive technology or predictive analytics if you prefer is going to really change how we manage patients in a hospital. If done right, it can help us become proactive instead of reactive. This will require us to change a lot of processes though.
Think a hospital's #EHR can be the basis of an individual's longitudinal health record? Wrong! Learn about social determinants. #EHRbacklash
— Bob Brown (@ReasObBob) April 14, 2017
Is a longitudinal health record possible in any format? I’m beginning to think that it’s a pipe dream that will never happen. At least not with our current documentation requirements.
Percentage of physicians time spent on various activities, 2011-2014#doctors #hcsm #hospital #hcsmeu #Physicians #emr #EHR #HealthIT pic.twitter.com/S6ui9gKP8b
— MedicalAbacus (@MedicalAbacus) April 8, 2017
I find time studies like these very interesting. However, the thing I hate about them is that we don’t have a time study from before implementing EHR software so we could compare how a physician used their time before EHR and after. No doubt over 50% of their time being spent on documentation and not face-to-face with the patient feels bad. However, how far off was this from where we were in the paper world?
Looking at the chart, prescription refills can be faster in an EHR. Secure messages can be faster with an EHR since you’re not playing phone tag which was the process before secure messages. Telephone encounters were likely the same. That leaves just the progress notes as the one thing that could be more time consuming in an EHR than the paper chart. How much more is the real question. Paper chart progress notes weren’t all that fast either. That’s why stacks of paper charts that weren’t completed were always sitting on physicians’ desks.
I guess the core question I would ask is, “Are EHRs the reason doctors hate medicine, or are the ongoing regulations and requirements that have been heaped on doctors the real problem?” My guess is that all this documentation overheard that’s being required of doctors was a problem in the paper world, but has been exacerbated in the EHR world. What do you think?
