9 Common EMR Complaints Resolved by 1 Solution

“One of the biggest items found to interfere with physician satisfaction is the current state of electronic medical records documentation,” wrote Dike Drummond, M.D., in his article “9 Reasons Doctors Hate Their EMR.” Drummond, the founder of TheHappyMD.com, explains that while electronic medical records, in theory, are meant to improve patient care, they can actually hinder it. He bases his findings off a physician satisfaction study conducted by the RAND Corporation.

Drummond writes, “Until the actual technology improves and there is a smaller number of standardized documentation programs -- the only option that makes sense is for doctors to become a power user of their current system(s) and hope they stay constant in the years ahead.”

But that’s not the only option.

InfraWare, an industry leader in healthcare IT since 2003, developed a dictation and transcription platform that resolves providers’ issues with EMRs. This No-click Documentation^sm solution cures the common pain points associated with electronic documentation. In fact, InfraWare’s solution addresses all nine of Drummond’s EMR complaints.

Here’s how.

Drummond's Original Article

Complaint #1: Time-consuming. Doctors could spend more time with patients, but instead they spend their time fumbling through an EMR with endless options.

InfraWare’s solution: Until recently, 60% of healthcare encounters were documented via dictation because that was the fastest and easiest method for providers. Our solution allows doctors to return to that fast, expressive dictation and still meet Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements. When EMRs were implemented, dictation declined because EMRs required structured data that transcribed documents could not provide. With InfraWare, they can.

Complaint #2: Hinders workflow. Providers believe that their EMR systems add too many steps to the documentation process, forcing them take more time to get less done.

InfraWare’s solution: Providers had been satisfied with dictation, and they can be again.  In fact, relieved of most of the data-entry responsibilities, they can become consumers of the EMR data. That is something doctors report as an aspect of EMRs that they enjoy and appreciate.

Complaint #3: Less face-to-face care. With many EMRs, doctors and nurses spend more time looking at a computer screen, which can alienate the patient.

InfraWare’s Solution: Our No-click Documentation^sm system unchains providers from the computer or tablet, allowing them to dictate notes, even from theirsmartphones. A transcriptionist edits the note and it’s uploaded into the EMR with the structured data already in place.  Patients and their doctors can enjoy more face-time.

Complaint #4: Insufficient exchanging of health information. One of the strongest benefits to an EMR is a health information exchange, where multiple providers can exchange information about a single patient – digitally and securely. However, many doctors find that paper faxes are still being used to transmit information.

InfraWare’s solution: The InfraWare solution is based on the Consolidated CDA standards that came out of the Health Story Project and that were included in Meaningful Use Stage 2.  Those standards are specifically designed for interoperability among providers and disparate EMR programs.  These documents contain both narrative and structured data, and can be shared via Health Information Exchanges or Direct messaging to replace faxing.

Complaint #5: Email Overload. Many providers, especially those in a primary care setting, feel overwhelmed by the amount of messages they receive through their EMR.

InfraWare’s solution: While messaging overload is a problem affecting workers in every industry, these messages are precisely the same that have historically flowed through providers. The new capability is to accept the information into the EMR vs. handling paper or reading fuzzy faxes that can’t be integrated into the encounter.

Complaint #6: Meaningful Use vs. Narration. Providers find that the Meaningful Use criteria doesn’t include all the important elements of patient care, downplaying information that doctors and nurses feel is crucial to high quality care.

InfraWare’s Solution: This was the entire basis for the Health Story Project and InfraWare’s sponsorship and leadership with industry peers.  Structured data has value, but pursuing structure data at the expense of narrative context is severely limits the quality of care.  Our solution puts an emphasis on the whole patient story. What the provider finds important, we find important.

Complaint #7: EMRs can be expensive. Not only do providers, especially those part of small, private practices, have to spend time and money purchasing, training and implementing an EMR, but the cost to switch to a different service is pricey, as well.

InfraWare’s solution: The most weighty cost of an EMR is the time spent using it.  Dictation that supports Meaningful Use saves time.  Moreover, when providers change EMRs, the dictation solution remains mostly the same.  To those who consider transcription to be expensive, let me suggest that the past two years have shown us that it is far less expensive than the alternatives.  It is, in fact, the least expensive part of an encounter.

Complaint #8: Less meaningful work. Providers claim that EMRs require them to spend more time on clerical work, limiting their ability to take on more patients or offer quality care.

InfraWare’s solution: By reestablishing dictation as a way to create a compliant clinical note, doctors can step away from the keyboard. They can dictate on a phone, tablet or a computer, documenting the encounter quickly and leaving the punching of keys to others.

Complaint #9: Templates in EMRs threaten quality. Providers can speed up their documentation time with templates, or macros, in their EMRs, but many believe that this greatly increases the risk or errors and complications.

InfraWare’s solution: This is a very valid concern, especially for providers rushing through a series of encounters. Doctors are comfortable with dictation; it’s the way they’ve done notes for decades. Our No-click Documentation^sm frees doctors to use conventional dictation to achieve Meaningful Use.

So, yes, some providers, as Drummond pointed out, may hate their EMR, but that can all be changed with InfraWare. Our solution is simple, convenient, effective and, most importantly, compliant. By using dictation to achieve meaningful use, doctors can regain their voice.