By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Billion Dollar Healthcare IT Opportunity That the US Government Wasted
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > News > The Billion Dollar Healthcare IT Opportunity That the US Government Wasted
NewsPolicy & Law

The Billion Dollar Healthcare IT Opportunity That the US Government Wasted

malpani
malpani
Share
4 Min Read
healthcare IT
SHARE
healthcare IT

I had a very interesting conversation with a physician who is the chief medical information technology officer for a large hospital chain in the USA.

healthcare IT

I had a very interesting conversation with a physician who is the chief medical information technology officer for a large hospital chain in the USA. What he revealed was quite eye-opening .

As we all know, the big problem with EMRs ( electronic medical records ) today is that they have not been enthusiastically adopted by doctors. This is not because doctors are luddites – it’s just that EMRs are not doctor-friendly , because they have not been designed by physicians, or for physicians . They have been developed by engineers, and are usually just after- thought add-ons to practice management systems . While they are great for fulfilling the bureaucratic purpose of tracking revenue, doctors dislike them because they disrupt their clinical workflow . The situation is quite a mess – and the government is having to bribe doctors with thousands of dollars in order to get them to adopt EMRs !

It’s going to take a long time before companies get their act together and start responding to physician feedback. Rather than trying to make systems which work for doctors, companies have been trying to retrain doctors to work with their software ! Doctors are smart guys, and are happy to adopt tools which will help them to improve their productivity and efficiency. However, expecting them to unlearn all their clinical skills just because they have to use a badly designed piece of software as commanded by the powers-that-be is wishful thinking,

His point was that for many years the US VA healthcare system has been using an excellent electronic medical record called Vista . The US government should have released Vista as open –source, and made this the de facto standard for all electronic medical records. This would have become the basic platform on which private companies could add bells and whistles, so that physicians could customize it for their own personal needs . This way , the basic electronic medical record would be given away free to everyone who wanted it; and people who then wanted additional features could pay for them. This would combine the best of all possible worlds , because it would ensure that everyone would use a free time-tested working system, which was robust and physician-friendly. It would form a stable backbone , which would also allow tinkering and tweaking as time went by, because the source code would be freely available.

It’s such a shame that the US government missed this opportunity . Unfortunately, this is now going to cost doctors and patients billions of dollars and thousands of frustrated wasted man-hours, while we try to make electronic medical records more patient friendly and more physician friendly

 
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

Vaccines & Public Health in 2016: Where are We Now?

March 15, 2016
paveltarasenko/Shutterstock
News

How You Look Affects How You Feel

April 4, 2012
Health careWellness

Here Are Top 3 Health Concerns of Aging Parents

August 27, 2018

Video Released of TEDMED Talk on Focused Ultrasound

December 9, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?