Informaticians Propose ‘Essential EHR Reforms for This Decade’

In a proposal published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, two distinguished informaticians have outlined what they are calling “essential electronic health reforms for this decade.”. The distinct advantages that EHRs bring, the structure of healthcare services in the United States “has made it difficult to exploit their most desirable features. Instead of supporting clinicians seeking to deliver care more effectively and efficiently, current EHR design and configurations attempt to manage clinicians and how they do their work. The deterioration in the patient-clinician relationship and increased clinician burden are often blamed on the EHR.”A major move in these directions will allow far greater creativity and innovation between clinicians and patients to transcend the traditional boundaries of what constitutes care. EHRs will not cure all that ails our current healthcare system, implementing these recommendations should positively affect patients and clinicians and move us toward the original vision of a patient-centered, technology-enhanced healthcare ecosystem that is designed to significantly improve outcomes at a lower cost, with more satisfied patients and clinicians.