Your Hollywood Style EMR Press Review
It’s
(almost) cherry picking season, but trust me, healthcare people’s mood is
everything but jolly. This past quarter indeed, Health Information Technology (HIT)
vendors are in for their money. If I were to squeeze it all into one scenario,
I would say they’re all starring in a cheap movie production where they,
vilains, all go for a ride in a Ferrari, but oooppsss, they suddenly run over a
doctor, a patient and a taxpayer who were minding their own business in
addition to crossing on green. Instead of calling 911, these loaded bastards go
into reverse, drive over all three broken bodies one more time, empty their
wallets and vanish into a Manhattan back street alley.
But
not to worry. Right in line with the seasonal mood, I did the cherry picking
for you…and found a few tasty quotes from articles and blogs, the various
scenarios of which are all yours to enjoy.
A FISTFUL OF EMR DOLLARS
“(The EMR is) a scandal marred by industry influence, government
complicity, and lack of evidence,” according to Tom Liu on his blog.
Source: InSight Blog
A FEW GOOD
SENATORS
“Based on a range of
objective data, it is clear that the current payment structure of the EHR
incentive program does not provide enough oversight or safeguards to ensure the
proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
A
smoother way to say “hey, you’ve been screwed”. This masterpiece of political
bullshit comes right from 4 senators who called their latest EHR white
paper…wait for it…“Reboot”.
BILLION DOLLAR BABY
“RAND’s 2005 report
was paid for by a group of companies, including General Electric and Cerner
Corporation, that have profited by developing and selling electronic records systems
to hospitals and physician practices. Cerner’s revenue has nearly tripled since
the report was released, to a projected $3 billion in 2013, from $1 billion in
2005.”
It’s
not me saying it, it’s Greg Scandlen in a January post titled “The HIT Scam”
THE HAPPY HOOKERS GO TO WASHINGTON
“After (President Bush called for digitizing national health records in in
his 2004 State of the Union speech), every technology C.E.O. wanting a piece of
health care would have visited me every day if I had let them. Over the next
few years, Cerner and many of the other health care data companies increased
their presence on Capitol Hill."
Please welcome this confession from David Brailer, whom
President Bush had appointed as the nation’s first health information czar at
the time.
Source:The New York Times
DUMBER AND DUMBER
“But does anyone
really believe we should go back to paper?”
These
were the only words that came out of recently-fired Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman
in response to someone complaining about the EMR in a letter to President
Obama. That’s like saying to a family of four living in 200 square feet that
the prehistoric cave is overrated.
As
for the rest of the article, I would say congrats to Tullman for downloading my
Bullshit Bingo grids in due time.
Source: Forbes Magazine
THANK YOU FOR
SMOKING US
Brian
Klepper wasn’t too impressed with the above article either, so he responded:
“Physicians,
purchasers and patients should take umbrage at Tullman’s article. Along with
EPIC, Cerner, NextGen and other old guard EHR vendors, Tullman and Allscripts
are directly responsible for most current EHRs’ outrageous costliness, lack of
usability and interoperability, and their limited clinical decision support.
Through their scale and influence over policy, they have effectively
manipulated the EHR market, gouging purchasers and delivering marginally
capable products. Health care costs more, and outcomes have suffered as a
result.”
Source: The Doctor Weighs In
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY
“On a really good
day, you might be able to call the system mediocre, but most of the time, it’s
lousy.”
That was Michael Callaham, chairman of the department of emergency
medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, on the $160 million digital
records system from Epic he turned on eight months ago.
Source: The New York Times
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN?
“We called it the Sunny von Bülow bill. These companies that should have
been dead were being put on machines and kept alive for another few years. The
biggest players drew this incredible huddle around the rule-makers and the
rules are ridiculously favorable to these companies and ridiculously
unfavorable to society.”
That was Jonathan Bush - co-founder of the cloud-based
firm Athenahealth and a first cousin to former President George W. Bush - on
healthy dinosaurs.
Source: The New York Times
“Who's got time to listen to patients when the government demands 'meaningful'
data entry?”
Good question, Anne Marie Valinoti. Thanks for asking.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
INDECENT
PROPOSAL
“You can bet that no one is making Dr. Devlin use an electronic
medical-record system.”
Same
Ms. Valinoti on Fox’ new show “The Mob Doctor”
That’s
it for the book and movie title games, I promise.
Cheers
from the pit,
Nado
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