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Say it Ain't So
Another year, another "computers don't save you a dime, you idiot story. My reply has, and always will be, "fine. If they don't save any money, let's go ahead and turn them off, eh?" And let's start with the authors of the study, while we're at it.
That said, this is very well received: The problem "is mainly that computer systems are built for the accountants and managers and not built to help doctors, nurses and patients," the report's lead author, Dr. David Himmelstein, said in an interview with Computerworld. To which I can only say it's not just health care which has this problem. We've been inflicted with not one but two expensive purchase order systems at my workplace that are an absolute horror to use simply because it makes the 3-member accounting team's job easier.
Most systems have this problem. If you look at a company, much of the power is tied up in finance/accounting. Why? Because they control the reports that show where money is being spent/lost and they all believe that every other person in the company is a crook or wasteful spender and it's their mission to point that out. As such, it's easier for them to make the arguments about the financial benefit of a system. Good salespeople know this and sell these systems to the CFO and team, who then force them upon the underlings. Basic business strategy, that.
Doctors actually complicate this to a greater extent. If you ask any doctor, it's the others that make mistakes and their decisions are perfect. As such, they don't need CPOE (Computer-Physician Order Entry) - a system that when implemented properly would eliminate somewhere north of 50% of all medication errors. On top of that, if one were to design a system that allowed for symptoms to be keyed in and a list of probable causes (with an over-ride when it's wrong) coupled with recommended therapies based on actual statistical analysis (best outcome for lowest cost, etc), we'd see a much larger savings in the healthcare industry.
But that'd take the choices away from the prima donnas (read: doctors) and big pharma.
It'd also likely save more lives and money than anything the left is recommending but since it doesn't buy them more votes, they don't care.
Posted by: Ron ap Rhys on December 1, 2009 08:53 AM