Intelligent Healthcare Information Integration 11/14/10

Oh…So, That’s Cool…

After my last set of whines and gripes, I have been gifted with a wonderful slew of wake-up slaps to the face. There are — thank you, Jesus — some pretty cool new developments in the world of EHRs. I feel as if I have been given a Moses-ian view of the EHR Promised Land and the view up here is pretty pleasant, much brighter than my first assessment may have perceived.

I’ve gotten demos and descriptions of some EHR 2.0- to 4.0-ness that are flat-out encouraging. CEOs and development VPs and idea men and sales folks have all shared some very cool new approaches and system enhancements which have me feeling almost giddy with possibility.

I said I wanted to see apps: apps there are a’poppin’. I mentioned my new iPad love (even though as a PC guy from way back it feels almost illicit): there’s more iPad approaches a’brewin’ than I a’knew. I noted WebOS moves so smartly: some EHRs are now a’hoppin’. And, though my desire for EHR “beauty” may still be more a part of the “Promised” than the current “Land,” the scenery is showing some springtime buds a’bloomin’.

So, now that my bipolar swinging is apparent, I have to admit that my prior gripes may have been somewhat stilted, probably secondary to my exogenously-induced IEDD: Impending-EHR-Death Depression. (By the way, if it isn’t yet, I hereby suggest a new DSM-IV entry of just such a disorder; I am certain we’ll see many more such cases in the coming years. Successful treatment of IEDD – for which Xanax helps, I should add – is primarily dependent upon a fast bolus of Innovation and Value: an “IV bolus.” I am blatantly pilfering this term for the new IEDD rehab center I’m founding.)

As I move higher into my mania, I’m almost moved to a mental meltdown by the mention of a not-so-minor bit of minutia: the dreadful awareness of “you can’t have it all.”

Smart pieces and parts from here or there all swim within my mental imagery of the world of EHR possibilities which are upon us. They dance and dodge about in my mind as the number of demos mounts and the differences among them melt into one gigantic “what could be” mélange. I can see the future, the EHR Promised Land, but as many a pioneer’s dissuaders have portended, “You can’t get there from here.” I can see little snippets of the path to the land of EHR Shangri-la, but I can’t see how to tie them together into one consistent path. The road to HIT nirvana is still hit AND miss.

I didn’t want to have to change systems, but now that I’ve been blessed with a deeper view of what’s been cooking on EHR stoves all about – much of it still percolating under boiling pan lids – I’m starting to get a little bit excited about what functionalities and innovations my next system might provide. In fact, I’d place my order right now, if I could P.F. Chang it – you know: one from column A, two from column B, one from column C…

From the curiously intrigued trenches…

“We want the world and we want it now.” – Joey Ramone

 

Dr. Gregg Alexander, a grunt in the trenches pediatrician, directs the “Pediatric Office of the Future” exhibit for the American Academy of Pediatrics and is a member of the Professional Advisory Council for ModernMedicine.com. More of his blather…er, writings…can be found at hisblog, practice web site or directly from doc@madisonpediatric.com.