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Had an appt with my doctor; she was slowly typing as we talked. I asked her how she liked typing her own records. She said she hates it but has no choice as it is required now. Apparently some companies are telling the hospitals that EMR is required by law. That isn't exactly true, and the companies (such as MQ) do a lot of fibbing and twisting of the truth. While it will be required that medical records be electronic....HOW they get there is where they are fibbing.....an MT can still do exactly what we do now and it can be EMR. The companies are telling them it has to be input by the providers themselves....
Then my doc said she and every other doctor she knows hates it because it takes longer, she can't see as many patients, OR, some docs will cut the visit shorter than they would have in the past. She says a lot of patients seem rightly disturbed by having to wait while the doc clickity clacks away, making rare eye contact bc they are too busy at the computer.........My doc apologized profusely (she prob thought I was just annoyed, didn't tell her I was an MT).....but I didnt' tell her I WASN'T annoyed -- I really was.
1. The first (and only) time my doctor brought the laptop into the exam room and input while I talked, I stopped talking. When he would stop typing and look up and give me his attention, I would resume talking. Back to typing - I stopped talking again. Attention on me - I talk again. He got the hint pretty quickly.
The second time I saw him, he had the MA do the typing while we talked, and that was fine.
The third time, there was no laptop at all .. he was back to listening and taking notes .. and it has been that way since.
2. I have two accounts that have "gone EMR," and they are still dictating. One is Internal Medicine - a PCP who considers himself "the gatekeeper" and whose Initial Visit H&Ps and Comprehensive Physical Exams are 3 - 6 pages long. He says there is no EMR program in the world that would include all the information he requires in his records, and present it in the way he wants it.
The other is a specialist who, with every visit, dictates a letter, 1-2 pages long, to the referring summarizing the visit into sections of HPI, Exam, and Plan/Recommendations. He prefers that personal aspect between himself and the referring doc.
These two doctors are doing what they have to in order to comply with EMR regulations, and they are still dictating so they will have complete and comprehensible records.
* Three other accounts have not even touched EMR yet. When they do, I will be using the above two examples as to why they should consider retaining supplemental dictation/transcription in their practices.