Working with providers on a daily basis who are trying to become ‘meaningful users,” I often hear comments similar to, “The Wolf of Wall Street must have designed this program, rather than anyone who actually practices medicine.”
Perhaps their comments are stretching it a little, probably over the frustrations associated with having to adapt and change so quickly. When we look at the timeframe over which the Affordable Care Act was rolled out, we might be tempted to call its implementation the American Hustle. Signed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act’s intent was to make sure that every individual has access to affordable, quality care. CMS’ EHR Incentive Program was established to help providers use technology to achieve benchmarks that can lead to improved patient care. In the “hustle” to get certified with CMS, EHR software programs have had to make several changes and improvements to their products just to maintain certification, and users of the software are having to adopt the upgrades as soon as they are rolled out.
Under such demands and pressure, I definitely haven’t discovered any of our providers falling in love with their EHR (notice if you rearrange the letters, it spells out her).
More often, I hear them say they feel they’ll be 12 Years A Slave. That prevailing attitude can be very discouraging to someone whose job it is to support the EHR and help providers achieve meaningful use.
But rather than be discouraged, maybe I need to learn a lesson or two from Captain Phillips: striking a balance between strength and compliance if we are to survive (ok, so maybe I’m the one stretching it here, but humor me).
Unlike Matthew McConaughey’s character in Dallas Buyers Club, who had to run around government regulations to survive, healthcare providers would be stopped in their tracks.
Neither can they take off to Nebraska to claim a lottery prize and retire. Here’s what I propose: let’s let Gravity do what it must (“Stage 2, here we come!”), and as we enter this new stage, remember, we may experience some frustration and disappointment, but with patience and perseverance, like Philomena, we may just discover what we needed all along.
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