Arrogance by Steven Mussey MD
Doctors are arrogant. Hospital administrators are even more arrogant. We compete in our arrogance.
Yet, we are amateurs compared to software programmers. They control our lives.
This past month, Microsoft unleashed a massive Windows 10 update called “Anniversary Edition.”
Thanks to the miracle of EMR, when our computers are down, we are down. We are totally dependent. We don’t know our schedule. We can’t access patient records. We are terrified to even answer the phone.
We need our computers to work. Patients need them. These are not some silly toys. They are literally tools for survival.
It was bad enough that Microsoft forced us to update to Windows 10 earlier this year. Machines unexpectedly became unusable for hours at a time. After the update, a few of our machines stopped working altogether.
Now, here comes “Windows Anniversary Update.”
Again, you start your day with a forced smile, boot up your tools and then watch with horror:
“Updating…. THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE.”
“But, I don’t have awhile! My first three patients are here and I’m already running late!”
Then, it got worse.
After the “awhile” for an unplanned update, several of our machines were still unusable and in a very bad way: They would not even get past the Bios splash screen.
Once we had straightened out the machines (a multi-hour complex process), we saw the value of this amazing “Anniversary Update”: The “power off” on-screen button had moved slightly.
Whoo Hoo! A major step forward in computing!
If you did this with medical care, how long before the authorities lock you up for murder and throw away the key?
It takes amazing arrogance!
“We’re Microsoft and we know what’s good for you… and we’re going to waste your time only to move the power button just because we can!”
Paper.
Can’t be beat.
As with most bad ideas in medicine, this crap was forced on us by a government empowered by a moronic society that believes there is a right to health care.
My wife hates it when she sees the IT people coming to install another “downgrade”.
It is the normal progress of the personal computer. One can either teach people how to use well-written programs, or have their computer taken over by ill-advised, poorly-constructed cheap crap. And who makes those decisions?
Computers allow the ignorant to dominate. I had a patient with stents in who stopped his statin because of his sister-in-law’s warnings about what she read on the internet.
Skip the Fountain of Youth. We need to shut down the Waterfall of Stupid. http://WTF?.com/