Growing pains in shift to digital records

A massive transformation of the nation’s medical system is underway as doctors and hospitals migrate to digital records.

The shift promises to fundamentally alter medical care in the United States by introducing standard information technology across the system.

A uniform electronic health record will give doctors a more complete picture of a patient’s medical history, including data from other clinical settings that might be missing in a paper record. But healthcare providers say they are struggling with the transition under the federal “Meaningful Use” incentive program that was designed to speed progress.

Four years after its rollout, hospitals and doctors say the electronic health records (EHRs) initiative is hampering their ability to deliver care.

“These software programs have deprived us of our efficiency, taken us away from interacting with patients and forced us to be secretaries and clerks,” said Dr Steven Stack, a past board chairman of the American Medical Association (AMA). “These are real frustrations for physicians, and they need to be addressed with a mid-course correction in the program,” he said.