Athenahealth campaign demands better EHRs
Athenahealth has launched its "Let Doctors Be Doctors" campaign—an effort to get physicians to speak up about their frustrations using EHRs.
“EHRs are failing to improve the connection between patients and providers—and distracting providers from their real work,” according to the campaign website. “With more than two-thirds of doctors saying they wouldn't recommend their EHR and the American Medical Association calling for a ‘major overhaul of EMR systems,’ it's time to demand change.”
The website includes a music video parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ "New York State of Mind," called "EHR State of Mind" and performed by ZDoggMD, the Stanford hospitalist-turned-rapper. The song calls the EHR a “glorified billing platform with some patient stuff tacked on. We need a new chart. Crappy software some vendor made us. There’s something you can do. Stand up and make your voice heard.”
"I have a love-hate relationship with the EHR," ZDoggMD wrote in a blog post accompanying the video. "To be precise, it's 90 percent hate, 6 percent love. The missing 4 percent? That would be the percentage of time spent on the phone with tech support trying to figure out which order set I have to use to input percentages."
Let Doctors be Doctors encourages healthcare professionals to become more vocal about their EHR frustrations, make recommendations for improving the systems and influence future health IT policy.
Using hashtags and forms on the Let Doctors Be Doctors website, Athenahealth will be sharing stories, complaints and other types of physician feedback on EHRs across social media platforms.
"Healthcare is the only industry that has managed to lose productivity while going digital,” said Jonathan Bush, CEO and co-founder of Athenahealth.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.