Attendees of TEPR could be forgiven for being a little anxious about the future. Conference organizer and Medical Records Institute head Peter Waegemann put out a call for action. He noted that at the first conference some speakers thought EMRs would be reality within three years, then ten years. Now, more than twenty years later, we're still arguing about different standards.
The keynote, from AMA secretary Joseph Heyman, addressed the many reasons for a lack of EMR adoption. Although Heyman is a solo practitioner who runs a paperless office and has been using EMRs since 2001, he trumpeted his organization's party line, calling for no cuts in Medicare. He also expressed suspicion of pay for performance, opposed technology use mandates and demanded straight payment to acquire and use technology. Apparently the medical world has gone to hell and it's anyone but the AMA's fault. He feels we shouldn't expect doctors to save the healthcare system by using IT unless it comes at no cost and inconvenience to them. Of course, in fairness, that's a critique that many doctors will disagree with. One counter argument--which Heyman alluded to--is that government should be doing more to encourage adoption. Expect this debate to continue.
- see this release from the Medical Records Institute
PLUS: Patient Care Technology Systems is sponsoring a large location tracking demonstration giving attendees at the show tags and enabling them to review their movements online later. Article