This summer, I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Moon, a reconstructive plastic surgeon at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. It was an amazing opportunity to see how a medical practice is run and to see first hand how a doctor interacts with patients, diagnoses a problem, and plans/executes a treatment plan. However, a particular inefficiency struck me as an obvious waste of time for the doctor, the patients, and the entire staff of the medical practice. The problem? Paperwork.
As it turns out, a doctor’s day is filled with a lot more paperwork than I thought it would be. Between patient charts, treatment forms, dictations, and other miscellaneous forms, roughly half of Dr. Moon’s day was spent in his office writing up information on his patients. Among the problems with the American health care system is the fact that we do not have fully electronic medical records. An electronic system not only saves time on paperwork, but it also conserves paper, helps doctor’s communicate better, and is much more efficient and organized. Many of the health care plans set forth by Congress do encourage electronic medical records, but with the snail’s pace that lawmakers usually move, healthcare providers should take the initiative and work towards digitalizing our medical records.
The problem with EMRs: digitizing horribly inefficient paper processes. The processes should be improved first, then digitized. Nice idea, though.
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