Most healthcare organizations claim to be patient-centric. I do believe this is their intent.
However, as the EHR becomes ever-more central for patient care—from documenting the patients’ presenting concern, to prior medical history, physical evaluation, labs, tests, diagnosis, and eventual billing— it begins to take on a life of its own.
Add on its role as a data collector and aggregator for broader organizational objectives, including patient population initiatives to broader population health concerns, it really has not only become the central tool of healthcare but the central focus of healthcare.
Certainly, many healthcare administrators will protest this statement. But consider this: Can a patient choose to be seen without an EHR being opened? The answer is no.
So, if I am right, and the EHR has displaced the patient, then a reasonable follow-up question would be to ask if this displacement of the patient is even a problem.
I think it depends.
If the organization recognizes the displacement of the patient, then probably not. There are ways to work around this, such as making an extra effort the physicians have the support they need for them, as people, to focus on the patient.
But, if administrators won’t even recognize the new EHR centrality as a problem, then it will inevitably get worse.