Electronic Health Records Secrets–the genie is out of the bottle

Electronic Health Records Secrets–the genie is out of the bottle

According to Scott Wolf, CEO and Director of Research of Grace Century, the general consensus from our (Grace Century) group, relating to this recent

Forbes article (see below) on the electronic health record, is that it is 100% correct.

“This is an amazing industry that can and will save millions of lives, but at the end of the day it’s all about money. The bigger companies have found a golden goose. The big and small companies are holding data hostage, and the reality is that the industry will pay for that data over and over!” says Wolf. “The big players have a vested interest in preventing interoperability, because it will shift advantage to real innovators verse legacy. The industry is still controlled by legacy, because they have capital and can deploy 100 people to turn on a major system. Most of the cost of legacy is the cost of the consultants, and NOT the software. Scary stuff, but no one can control change– especially when it can benefit and save lives. The genie is definitely out of the bottle!?

Two Dirty Little Secrets About Electronic Health Records

By Larry HustenForbes Contributor

Here are two dirty little secrets about electronic health records (EHR). Just about everyone in the field already knows these secrets, and many are quietly horrified, but few want to discuss them since there are no obvious or easy solutions.

EHRs Are a Threat to Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom

Epic Systems, a privately-held company, is the largest provider of EHRs. Most of the big medical centers, including all of the top 10 academic medical centers in the US, use Epic. Like many other EHR companies, Epic requires hospitals and physicians to sign a non-dispargement agreement, or ?gag? clause. In fact, Epic doesn?t even allow its hospitals and physicians to publish screen shots of its software in use.Think about that for a second: Epic users? including a large percentage of the leading physicians in the country? are legally forbidden to criticize their EHR or even share images of how it works.

Read this important article > here.