“A beautiful example of pure patient safety.”
That’s how one doctor described the industry’s response to last week’s unexpected blockbuster recall of Merck’s popular inflammatory drug Vioxx.Healthcare IT News
When news of the Vioxx recall was received, it took me 30 seconds to identify which patients were long term users of Vioxx and contact them to stop taking their medication or to come in for an alternative prescription. In my opinion, having an EMR begins to pay back when situations like this occur.
Has anyone else had experience with their system in a situation that required a medication recall or the need to contact a large cohort of paitnes for any specific reason.
To comment, click on the 'Comments' link below
I did the same thing for our group practice. I even impressed the toughest critics. Patient care definitely improves when tools such as these can be utilized on a daily basis.
Posted by: M. Carniello | October 12, 2004 at 04:13 PM
Couldn't agree more. While I have an EMR, I don't use it because of my concerns regarding "transferrability" of my data once my Vendor goes belly up, etc.
While patients stand to benefit greatly from this aspect of and EMR....the cost of that benefit is paid solely by the Physician. It is my opinion that this societal benefit should be funded by societal funds - not personal Physician income!!! While Alberta's POSP is a great start in the right direction, it has been my experience that for a solo Family Doc, the program pays in reality only about 20% of the true costs of running an EMR.
Until this changes, I can't imaging actually using an EMR!
J.
Posted by: John Fernandes | November 06, 2004 at 11:16 PM