Quote:
Originally Posted by goodtimesintv
True, but many of the reasons are mandated by it, such as "Meaningful Use" (whatever that is a euphemism for.....).
A former neighbor and primary care doctor gave me this blog article that reaffirms the "meaningfulness" of evaluating physician performance/quality by how many of their patients TRY to get registered on the required internet Patient Portal.
My "patient portal" at one of the nation's top teaching-research hospitals is a total headache to register and log in to, and for medical record viewing it is worthless, but it is top-notch for seeing and paying the many BILLS.
This is good for everybody to read, as is the whole blog:
In My Humble Opinion: MU With Or Without You |
Actually, the "meaningful use" program was in place before Obamacare and is not part of it. Simply put, the program was set up as an incentive/subsidy to the requirement that all physicians utilize an electronic record by 2017. The government was willing to help defray the cost, but only if the physician could "prove" he was using the EMR.
That's the theory. Of course, as usual, once the bureaucrats got a hold of it the criteria by which "meaningful use" was determined became more complex and convoluted to the point that a medical office ends up hiring a "meaningful use" consultant to make sure the criteria are met. Just another example of how a halfway decent idea morphs into a surrealistic nightmare ten times as big, ten times as complicated, and ten times as expensive as it needs be.