EHR Report: One step at a time

This brings up the questions of alerts and alert fatigue. One wouldn’t want a beep and/or a warning light every time a car passes you in the next lane. Clearly, there has to be more work on alerts making them smarter and more configurable, as otherwise they just become noise. EHRs are far from perfect, but with good design and with thoughtful implementation, I am completely convinced that they are an aid rather than a hindrance.

We like Dr. Weinshenker’s thoughts – he has figured out and shared ways to incorporate and communicate his care for and attention to patients into his workflow with the EHR. We are still at the beginning of our transformation from paper to electronic records, and this change is not easy. It has been said, beginnings are always hard. It is through shared suggestions like those provided by Dr. Weinshenker that we will together develop a patient-oriented electronic approach. Keep those comments coming.

Dr. Skolnik is associate director of the family medicine residency program at Abington (Pa.) Memorial Hospital and professor of family and community medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia. He is editor-in-chief of Redi-Reference, a company that creates mobile apps. Dr. Notte practices family medicine and health care informatics at Abington Memorial. They are partners in EHR Practice Consultants. Contact them at info@ehrpc.com.