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. 2015 Jun;5(3):185–186. doi: 10.1212/01.CPJ.0000466888.81252.60

An electronic medical record just for neurologists

A daunting proposition

Marc A Swerdloff 1
PMCID: PMC5764458  PMID: 29443204

Electronic medical record (EMR), daunting indeed.1 The biggest challenge I have experienced from using EMR—and potentially the most dangerous to patient care—is the tendency for the record to bury important information. In that light I have spent excessive unreimbursed hours entering and then pasting data into the record so it is easily viewed. Allscripts has a prominent perch for diagnostic results; however, it does not automatically drop entered data into this logical category. It also doesn't drop it automatically into a printout for the patient to receive at check out.

I have served as a scut monkey slave to this promised time-saving EMR monster for the last 2 years, a role I relished more than 30 years ago when I was a chipper student/intern/resident. I am looking forward to the day when EMR may actually save me time and enhance my practice. I am not holding my breath.

Disclosures:

The author reports no disclosures.

References

Neurol Clin Pract. 2015 Jun;5(3):185–186.

Author Responds:

Allison L. Weathers, MD: I thank Dr. Swerdloff for his comments on my editorial.1 He raises an excellent point regarding the risk of “information overload” and of critical information being hidden within the record. This problem will almost certainly be magnified by the growing access that clinicians have to external records through their EMRs and through participation in Health Information Exchanges. Although Dr. Swerdloff should be commended for his personal efforts to combat this risk and ensure the safety of his patients, his solution is not a tenable one for the reasons he outlines. I would encourage Dr. Swerdloff and others with similar concerns to reach out to their EMR vendors. The issue mentioned here is not specific to neurology and is one they are likely hearing from a number of clinicians. Customer input does factor into decisions regarding enhancements and future development, but we must voice our concerns for this change to occur. I anticipate that as the functionality recommended by McCarthy et al. becomes more widespread and the American Academy of Neurology and other professional medical societies continue to advocate for more physician-friendly, usable systems, we will start to more fully realize the potential of EMRs and some of the burden of their use will hopefully be lifted from clinicians.2,3

Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.

Disclosures: A.L. Weathers has received funding for travel or speaker honoraria from the American Academy of Neurology, North Carolina Neurologic Society, and Los Angeles Neurologic Society.

Articles from Neurology: Clinical Practice are provided here courtesy of American Academy of Neurology

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