The computerized era has introduced all of us to a genre of errors that never existed during the archaic pen and paper era. The paper medical chart I used during most of my career never ‘crashed’. Now, when our electronic medical records (EMR) freezes, malfunctions, or simply goes on strike, our office is paralyzed. Although I appear to the patients as a breathing and willing medical practitioner, I might as well be a storefront mannequin who appears lifelike, but cannot function. We cannot access the patients’ records, write a prescription or enter a new office visit. Mannequins appear lifelife but don't function well. Of course, like any business who faces this crisis, we expect instantaneous rescue from our IT professionals, as if we are their only client and they are permanently stationed in our waiting room just waiting for us to sound the alarm. This is among one of the most frustrating aspects of EMR for medical professionals. We simply don’t have
MD Whistleblower presents vignettes and commentaries on the medical profession. We peek 'behind the medical curtain' and deliver candor and controversy in every post.