What problems have you seen?

[mward04]

What business problems have you seen with the docs that you've rotated/worked with?

I've seen numerous. The first is that many docs bill as if a procedure/surgery ($500-$3K) were just as important as a regular patient visit (20-$50). They follow-up on these claims as if they are equal in value. When you are spending 30 minutes on hold with an insurance company, these two claims are by no means equivalent.

There are more, I'm just curious what other people are seeing.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lowbudget]

In-house vs. outsourcing labs and rad in clinics.

 

[IndyZX]

informations systems will be the next great advance in healthcare. its just gotta be.

 

[Energon]

Information Handling
Patient notes are bizarre. There is no standardization and the information defies all rules of database management (each item is recorded ONCE and in a single place). The notes are so voluminous and unsearchable and, as a consequence, doctors often ignore them. I have seen doctors searching through PILES of notes for simple information such as "Is this patient allergic to penecillin?" I used to design databases for pharmaceutical companies. Believe me, the FDA would shut down any company that kept records this way.

Quality Control
Many doctors don't understand the the benefits of standardization. They entered medicine because they like to be creative and independent. The trouble is that variation (the "art" of medicine) adds noise to the system and makes it difficult to pick up the signal from the underlying noise. Medicine is full of this -- and it starts in medical school where you get taught six different ways of doing a procedure.

Lack of audit capability
Electronic records will make it easier to audit and improve performance. The paper based record system prevents this.

Lack of Decision Support
Decisions could be improved and checked. This happens routinely in other businesses but it doesn't happen in medicine because of paper records.

Restructuring the job of physician - lack of delegation
Information technology drastically reshapes jobs -- and it should do the same for physicians. I am often surprised at the number of tasks that are preserved for physicians. I suspect that IT will make it possible to deskill many of the routine tasks and at the same time improve the quality of healthcare. Of course, doctors will fight to protect their turf but I think they will ultimately lose.

Good post