How is MEDITECH, really?

[daveyjwin]

I'm considering a job, with $50/hr pay raise, and scribes, which uses MEDITECH as the EHR, which gives me some mild misgivings, as all I've heard about it is that it's the devil.

I'm a relatively computer savvy young person, and I've used PulseCheck (favorite), EPIC, Cerner, Medhost, and Allscripts for EMRs so far. Is MEDITECH really that bad? Would you let it dissuade you from an otherwise acceptable job?

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[Pigg-O-Stat]

I've been on meditech for about a year. It sucks, but I'm used to it, so it doesn't really slow me down. I would not let it dissuade you from an otherwise good job. Now Mckesson on the other hand, is pure evil sent from the pits of hell to destroy emergency medicine - avoid it at all cost.

 

[Apollyon]

I'm considering a job, with $50/hr pay raise, and scribes, which uses MEDITECH as the EHR, which gives me some mild misgivings, as all I've heard about it is that it's the devil.

I'm a relatively computer savvy young person, and I've used PulseCheck (favorite), EPIC, Cerner, Medhost, and Allscripts for EMRs so far. Is MEDITECH really that bad? Would you let it dissuade you from an otherwise acceptable job?

Meditech was the only GOOD thing at one job I had. I'd never used it before, and one nurse couldn't believe that, because I just whistled through it. What I liked was the "bean counter" page that gave me how many parts I needed for a level for a chart.

It wouldn't be a deal breaker, for me at least.

 

[GeneralVeers]

I work for HCA and we have the "DOS Version" of Meditech which literally looks like it was programmed before the development of the GUI. It's a terrible system, and simple things like cut and paste, moving to a new line while typing, and erasing a mistake are impossible. With scribes it's somewhat tolerable but still pathetic, and there's no excuse for HCA the largest hospital system in the world to use something like this.

 

[Janders]

We use a DOS-era Meditech for POE (painful but fast once you learn it), with a separate overlying system for charting and ED flow management (Forerun, which I like a lot).

There is a newer meditech that looks more like, EPIC, etc which I am not familiar with.

Pro-tip for the old meditechs-- cut and paste does NOT work with ctrl-C / ctrl-V, but DOES work with the key strokes alt-C/alt-V ! Changed my life when I learned that.

 

[doctalaughs]

We use a DOS-era Meditech for POE (painful but fast once you learn it), with a separate overlying system for charting and ED flow management (Forerun, which I like a lot).

There is a newer meditech that looks more like, EPIC, etc which I am not familiar with.

Pro-tip for the old meditechs-- cut and paste does NOT work with ctrl-C / ctrl-V, but DOES work with the key strokes alt-C/alt-V ! Changed my life when I learned that.

I used to use meditech during internship. Can't you dictate most things (which is usually the fastest way in a bad EMR with no great template design)?

 

[CommunityED]

We use meditech with CPOE and P-DOC documentation. Once you get used to it it is pretty decent. Since going to P-Doc and Dragon dictation, I have increased my productivity by about 5-10%

 

[Jelgava]

I've used many different versions of Meditech, as well as Epic and most of the other systems as well. Once you use a scribe appropriately, it doesn't matter which system you use. Meditech is actually pretty efficient with order entry (you can create order sets) and that's pretty much all you should be doing if you're using a scribe correctly (the scribe should do all the documentation, if trained correctly).

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Many of the divisions in my partnership are at HCA hospitals. They're all cursing Meditech. They've actually had to add staffing because of it despite no increase in patients.

 

[Janders]

Well sure, if I used scribes we could chart using papyrus and enter orders via ciphered carrier pigeon message and it would be OK...

That said, if I'M paying for the scribe... well I'd rather just have dragon and a functional EMR. If the hospital is paying, then perhaps we have a deal!

Anyway, if you are truly flat hourly and get $50/hr more at a Meditech hospital, I wouldn't let meditech stop you from cashing in. Its not that bad. If you are fee-for-service or seriously volume-driven, then you are right to do a lot of scouting. Try talking to some of the newer people at your potential job site, who've worked in other systems, and ask them about the transition.

 

[RustedFox]

I don't know if anyone else has had these troubles; but here in Florida (since the MeditechMeltdown last monday) Meditech has been laggy, buggy, and borderline unusable. I'll be in the middle of typing up a chart and BOOM: it just aborts the entire program, losing all my work in the process.

 

[Old_Mil]

Meditech is actually better than Cerner. Pulsecheck is the best, I agree...if that is an A+, Meditech is probably a C+ and Cerner a D-. McKesson is an F. If everything else about the job is great I wouldn't be too worried about it.

 

[Old_Mil]

I used to use meditech during internship. Can't you dictate most things (which is usually the fastest way in a bad EMR with no great template design)?

The problem with dictation is that details are invariably lost on the front end that would be captured on a template...details that billers/coders need. Collections with dragon vs a template will suffer as a result.

 

[gutonc]

The problem with dictation is that details are invariably lost on the front end that would be captured on a template...details that billers/coders need. Collections with dragon vs a template will suffer as a result.

And isn't that really the issue here?

When I was a trainee, I would rail against how Epic (the primary EMR I have used) was basically built for coding and billing, with the physician facing side of it much less useful (to be generous).

Now that I get paid based on that billing and coding, I'm quite happy to have all that s*** pulled in automagically, spend 1 or 2 minutes on the average (admittedly non-ED) f/u note, bill a 99214 and call it a day, secure in the knowledge that the crap the EMR has in it will support my billing.