Ridiculous Study of the Month: Technology Harming Physician-Patient Relationship
Let’s put another check in the win column for the idiot researcher teams out there. In this summary article, about a recent study, it is pointed out that “doctors who rely heavily on computers while in the exam room may run the risk of harming their relationships with their patients”. I know you are thinking it so go ahead and say it, “No shit, Sherlock”. Here are some more pearls from the piece:
- Patients are less likely to rate their care as excellent when clinicians spend a lot of time on the computer when they are seeing a patient
- The study authors think patients might feel slighted if their doctor spends more time focused on a computer screen than looking over their ailments or listening to their concerns.
- Doctors frequently spend much of an office visit at the keyboard, inputting information into a health record rather than giving the patient a once-over, said Filer, who is a family physician in York, Penn.
- Doctors who spend a lot of time looking at the computer may not be as focused on their patient and can miss crucial information provided during the encounter
- Finally, Filer believes that more pressure needs to be placed on federal officials and computer software vendors, to make electronic health records more of a help than a hindrance in the exam room.
This is just another example of the same idiots who caused the problem, when they demanded quality indicators and more expansive EMRs, now pretending to be shocked that they screwed the whole thing up in the first place. I also blame us physicians for being wussies and not pushing back. I could go on forever but instead I will go back to seeing my 8 patients for the day and spending 30-60 minutes actually looking and listening to them.
It’s nice they did this study to prove what many have been saying for a long time.
Now, what are they gonna do about it?
Let’s guess: NOTHING?
AAFP President and full-time moron Wanda Filer:
“We’ve taken this technology and we’ve embraced it, but I think a lot of us don’t believe it’s ready for prime-time,” she said. “We’ve got this interloper in the exam room, but it’s not there to help with the medical side as much as it’s there to check boxes for insurers.”
Uh, duh. And where were you and your fellow AAFP ass-hats 15 years ago when we were telling you this? Giving tongue baths to Judy Faulkner and every bureaucrat at CMS, drooling over the wonder of EMRs based on 70s technology.
Sure fire cure for insomnia: make a list, in order of incompetence, of the 10 dumbest presidents in the history of the AAFP. Beats counting sheep every time.