Reference no: EM133505172

Assignment:

According to an article in the Washington Post (June 2015), physicians are becoming demoralized by the loss of traditional professional autonomy as they are forced to attend to ever-increasing demands and interference from insurers, lawyers, and government. A major point of grievance is the federal electronic health record (EHR), which mandates that all medical offices go paperless by the end of 2015. While it is thought that this change will save lives by reducing medical errors, and result in cost savings of billions of dollars, it is also having the effect of turning physicians into typists rather than healers. If doctors are spending their time tapping data into computers, this comes at the expense of listening to patients, eye contact with patients, and time with patients. One study found physicians spending 44 percent of their time completing what might be considered secretarial duties.

• Do you feel this is governmental overreach into health care practice?
• Are the benefits of electronic health care records in cost savings and reductions in medical errors important enough to alter traditional medical practice?
• If we assume both sides are correct here-how can we make the transition easier?