The Feds and EHRs

We need to STOP Federal incentives to implement EHRs until the numerous VERY serious problems are solved. My practice has been destroyed by the Government’s EHR mandate. I foolishly jumped on the bandwagon a year ago, got rid of paper, and entrusted my patients and practice to a product called GE Centricity Advance. Now GE HealthCare has decided to terminate Centricity Advance so it can focus resources on its more expensive flagship product. (Let me translate – so they can make more money.) Unfortunately, this will place a terrible burden, financial and otherwise, on my and the other impacted offices. Medical data must be re-entered. A new system must be purchased, learned and customized. More lost revenue, distraction from the important aspects of patient care and more chance for medical errors. Until the Government figures out how to protect patients and physicians from the abuses of EHR vendors, encouragement to move to EHRs must be put on hold.

Online Doctor Ratings

Think about this. I see around 100 patients per week. Roughly 50 weeks per year. That's 5000 patients visits yearly. In the roughly 5 years these sites have been popular that's 25,000 visits. Yet the average physician rating website shows 3 to 8 comments. There's no control over how often a disgruntled patient or a conniving competitor can post disparaging comments. Nor is there any control over friends and family submitting phony glowing reviews. Do people really take these physician rating sites seriously? Scary.

What is Colcrys?

Colchicine was an inexpensive "generic" drug costing a few dollars a month. Now the FDA has removed "generic" colchicine from the market and has granted exclusive sales rights to an IDENTICAL product called Colcrys in exchange for producing a new package insert! Colcrys costs around $300.00 per month. Go figure.

Your Arthritis Questions and Stories Wanted

This blog is for those with questions and stories pertaining to rheumatology (arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, etc.). Please contribute!