Doctor claims poor EHR training may have cost him his job

A Lincoln, Ill.-based physician contends that he was removed from his job because the hospital he was affiliated with didn't provide him with enough training and support in his use of the hospital's new electronic health record system, reports the Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register.

The physician, Dr. Steve Kottemann says that he had no computer skills before Family Medical Center of Lincoln instituted a new EHR system, and didn't receive much training after its implementation. Kottemann also claims that the hospital bought a "lousy" system that was mistakenly deleting his dictations, and that hospital officials didn't respond when he brought this issue to their attention. He admits he didn't want to type in notes during patient visits, and fell behind trying to catch up after hours. 

Hospital officials disagreed with Kottemann's assessment of the situation, noting that he had other performance issues and was not meeting targets. A hospital spokesperson also indicated that Kottemann was provided with additional training and scribes; Kottemann told the State Journal-Register that the scribes lacked medical knowledge and were unreliable. 

Some have suggested that there's more to the situation than was reported, including Dr. Michael West, a Washington, D.C.-based endocrinologist who, in a blog post, wondered why Kottemann encountered so much trouble. West noted, "if you can type an email to someone, then you should be able to type in a brief patient note."

To learn more:
- read the State Journal-Record article
- check out this Happy EMR Doctor blog post