Summary: Electronic Medical Records: The Potemkin Village of Healthcare: Dr. Gerard Gianoli, an outspoken critic of our current bureaucratized system of medicine whose Op-Eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, weighs in on the downsides of EMRs. They burden doctors with paperwork, result in “Cookie Cutter” medical care, force independent physicians to become employees of large healthcare corporations, and compromise patient privacy. Recent news demonstrates how entire hospital systems can be held hostage by hackers. Low-cost, low-tech procedures—and simply talking to patients—are often discouraged by artificially low reimbursement rates. Physician burnout is at unprecedented levels and is highly correlated with whether or not doctors accept insurance or Medicare with its onerous requirements and strictures. Doctors are committing suicide at record rates, and older doctors are retiring in droves to sidestep changes dictated by new regulations. In view of a looming physician shortage, this is bad news for medical consumers. Dr. Gianoli advocates that physicians and patients get off the insurance reimbursement “grid” and rediscover quality care with 3rd party medicine, free of bureaucratic encumbrances.
