Expectations

I wanted to buy something really special for my sister’s upcoming birthday. She likes nice clothes but often buys items that down plays her personality. I wanted to give her some pizzazz.

I spoke to friends, patients even. Going on line was problematic; some sites had a single interesting garment but not the whole outfit. It is impossible to match colors across internet companies. So off I went to a locally owned boutique. Lovely sales people; had a designer in the store that day that could address my unique request.

At one point, I just wanted to throw up my hands, but something made me remain calm. I voiced my concerns that ‘anything’ would work. I would say “my sister needs something bright”, they’d pull out a highly defined pattern made into a deeply cut top. “No, my sister doesn’t wear patterned fabrics, and also would not wear a deep-cut bodice”. And on it went. But allowing myself and these wonderful and knowledgeable people to respond to my specific but not complementary ideas for my sister eventually resulted in a perfect purchase.

Clinicians face family, patients, other clinicians all with unique expectations and tight schedules. Those who are easily irritated, quick to judge will fail to identify a poor solution and yet take action. This is repeated day in and day out. Some of this interaction is reflected in the medical record.

At a national level the health care system is being cajoled, punished, and dragged into using information technology to enhance clinical decisions. One might assume, incorrectly, that the medical record reflects all needed information and that information is smartly organized to effect optimum results. Those who come to help us need to establish a ‘full deck’ then determine how the ‘deck’ is played with in hopes of reducing random gaps, misunderstandings and confusion.

Reading background material about meaningful use a CMS mandated concept in a variety of forms that require information technology to improve our medical care performance speaks to the conundrum of present day medical information but because we’ve been avoiding this inevitable change the government it no longer cares how we solve this problem. Just do it.

Want to read more about meaningful use? You could go to the Congressional Record or read a synopsis by CMS https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Meaningful_Use.html