If EHR is to live up to its promise of truly improving healthcare AND reducing costs, one of the most obvious areas that must be addressed is end of life directives. As described in the commentary below (Politico article), this area of healthcare is still an unaddressed hurdle for the EHR industry,? says Scott Wolf, Director of Research and CEO of Grace Century, FZ LLC – UAE.
End-of-life instructions find no place in electronic health records
By JOANNE KENEN – Politico.com
1/9/15 6:03 PM EST
The federal government has spent billions helping doctors and hospitals digitize patients? lives, but there are still many holes in our electronic records including a big one: We can?t list end-of-life wishes.
Recording the desires of patients who are on their death beds ? or even noting whether a patient has appointed someone to make medical decisions on his or her behalf ? has become a huge gap in the nationwide effort to computerize patient care. The few hospitals trying to come up with their own digital approaches are finding it?s not easy.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/end-of-life-instructions-ehr-114139.html
