Another Response from about Physicians and lack of training for using electronic records

I post some of these comments in order to help bring the awareness of training to a new level hopefully as I see this all the time. Many offices are still creating huge files of Word documents, using antiquated faxing methods, and on top of all that, THEY ARE WORKING THEIR STAFF MUCH HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE, and then complain about all the time electronic record charting takes. Saving a ton of Word Documents is not only not as secure, it creates a ton of non-reusable information that has to be manually manipulated, which takes time, when a data base does it for you easily with a couple clicks.

This is a real problem area as the physicians now complain about the EMR instead of the paperwork, and if they only invested some time in proper training, along with proper training of the staff, they would be miles ahead. Someday transporting those bulky Word documents to the hospital via a usb device are going to be gone soon as security issues heighten, so those who don't train and prepare will have something else to complain about as well. It's sad that so much time is spent on complaining and that proper training could have been the cure for a lot of the misconceptions. So many just don't get it and refuse the free training. One thing for sure though, much of the staff gets it, as they realize how much more work it requires to be employed by offices who decline and thus promote misconceptions of the true value of an EMR. From the comments below, this nurse certainly "gets it". BD

In response to a reader's comments on David Burda's "Reporter's notebook: EHRs put some docs on edge":
The debate rages on. Yes, some physicians may be too busy on a particular day saving lives to attend training classes on how to access and use the electronic health-record system. But there should be no reason they can't find a couple of hours on a day when they are not on call to attend training. What is the point of implementing any technology that may enhance quality of life if people won't use it? I have trained lots of healthcare providers, salaried and nonsalaried alike to use an EHR. The physician group is by far the lowest in motivation, attendance and recognition that this is a tool to make information flow across all healthcare team members. Sorry Sylvia—the excuse of being too busy doesn't wash. Get help; learn how to use EHR.