08/24/2023    Brian Kiel, DPM

Regrets About Switching to EMR (Jon Purdy, DPM)

I responded to PM News previously, but after seen
Dr. Purdy's letter I felt that I had to respond. I
do not think that EMR has been a joke. It has not
taken away my concentration on a patient as I am
not busy writing into a chart were talked with the
patient. I can concentrate on the patient, I can
look them in the face if I have to make a note i
keep a pad next me. Then I leave the room and
immediately dictate into the chart through my EMR.

Yes, I do use some template but they all have
places to individualized them and if the patient's
condition varies from the norm I just dictated as a
fresh note. I see 35 to 40 patients a day, working
from 8:15 to 11: 15 and from 1:00 to 4:15 daily. I
see approximately 5 new patients in the morning and
approximately 5 new patients in the afternoon.

When I leave at 4:30 PM or so, my charts are done
and my charges are in. No one has to interpret my
handwriting. The patient once a copy of the chart
they can have it at that moment. If I need to pre-
cert or if I need to send a chart for an MRI or
physical therapy it can be done at that moment. If
I write a prescription and there is a
contraindication, I get an immediate red flag. If I
prescribed a medication and there is an allergy
which the patient did not tell me about I get a red
flag.

When I get chart notes from other doctors, there
may be extraneous information but I can read it
because it is in a typewritten form.
When you dictate, you have to think about what you
saw and what you did. When you scribble your note
usually is exactly what they are scribble notes and
not a complete chart (I know everyone does not do
that but it is very common.).

I have used some form of EMR since 1981 and I love
it. It seems to me the biggest complaint about EMR
is the cost. Yes, there is a cost but there is
always a cause for new technology. I do not think
any of you dependent upon a land line for anything
any longer. You have your cell phone which is more
expensive more difficult to use but it gives you a
lot more information and is far more useful than a
landline.

Brian Kiel, DPM, Memphis, TN

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