Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

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The AAFP is trying to tell Senators that this whole EHR/EMR requirement and meaningful use demand is a problem.  Really? Where were these guys years ago?  I wrote about it (and yes, they list me as one of their favorite blogs for some unknown reason).  Others told the AAFP this was going to be a problem.  But now they act as if this was a surprise:

At a Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions hearing this week, AAFP President Robert Wergin, M.D., of Milford, Neb., told senators how EHRs have helped and hurt in his practice.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-La., asked about the cost to purchase an EHR system. Wergin estimated it at $70,000 to $80,000 per provider, noting that practices have to buy software upgrades to meet meaningful use standards. Government incentives amounted to about $44,000.

“We’ve got a real problem here,” Cassidy said. “Productivity on the front lines is down by 25 percent.”

Let’s see: tons of money needed for the EHR/EMR, less then half of it given to pay for it by the gov’t, and productivity down 25%.  Sounds like a plan!!

How was this a surprise to anyone?

It wasn’t.  All good businessmen have business plans.  They see 5 or 10 years in the future.  They look at all offers on the table with a jaundiced eye.  They never accept bad deals.   The AAFP, who supposedly represents family docs, did none of the that.  They were star struck by this administration and followed their bubble gum promises like they were following the pied piper….until they were all gone.