EMR

My group has toyed with EMR the past few years, yet has never pulled the trigger. This is mainly due to a reluctance to invest money for an unsure benefit. With the recent 'incentives' offered by the administration, we looked again. Over 5 years since our last peek, and nothing has changed. Still the same Windows based software programs, all look-alikes, with the same approach - bland, meaningless notes generated to secure billing, not provide worthwhile medical communication. At about $100,000 for my group of 7 docs, with monthly fees of $3K, and no guarantee we would ever see any TARP reimbursement, the decision once again was easy. If there was a system that could allow us to communicate with all our referral sources, and the hospital, in an efficient manner that actually positively affected patient care, we would have made the switch years ago. Unfortunately, this doesn't exist as far as I'm aware. Real reform would address this issue, and believe me, all physicians being government employees is not the answer.