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Non-Wonders of the Electronic Age
Aug. 31st, 2011 04:24 pmI'm sitting at home after coming back from work an hour early, due to a problem with the computer system at work.
I am a medical coding consultant. I read medical records for information to generate medical codes for diagnosis and procedures. The codes are used for two purposes: One is to gather information for statistics. The other, and the most important for the hospital, is to determine payment. I'm called a consultant because I go from place to place and fill in when places get behind. No medical facility wants to get behind on their coding because just like everybody else, they want their money and they want it as quickly as possible.
Well, this facility has the new electronic record. Everything in on the computer now. All regular coders for the facility are working from home now, and they LOVE it. Other than saving on gas, wear and tear on their cars, and makeup, they can look like something the cat dragged in and still do their work. They can eat at the computer and take a nap during lunch. They can wait out a computer outage by watching TV and get back to work when the system comes back up.
The bad part about being a consultant that works at the facility kicks in at this point. The facility does not want me to have downtime (not at what they are paying me. Trust me, I do not work for cheap) but they are stuck. At the same time, because I do not work for cheap and I do not want them looking for someone else, I accept when they ask me to go home and make up my time during the week.
All this-because the network went down.
What is worse, the medical staff also uses the system for background on people who have already visited the facility. While this is more useful information than something they need right now dammit, it is still very much of an issue.
Now, I agree that the electronic system is better than the old one. It takes finesse now to cherry-pick, meaning sneak the easy records and leave the hard ones for someone else, without being caught. It means that more than one people can look at the record at a time. There is a lot less dust in the medical records department. Paper sucks up and distribute dust, and I have asthma, so this is a real plus for me.
But on days like this-well, I could wish we were a little behind the times.
I am a medical coding consultant. I read medical records for information to generate medical codes for diagnosis and procedures. The codes are used for two purposes: One is to gather information for statistics. The other, and the most important for the hospital, is to determine payment. I'm called a consultant because I go from place to place and fill in when places get behind. No medical facility wants to get behind on their coding because just like everybody else, they want their money and they want it as quickly as possible.
Well, this facility has the new electronic record. Everything in on the computer now. All regular coders for the facility are working from home now, and they LOVE it. Other than saving on gas, wear and tear on their cars, and makeup, they can look like something the cat dragged in and still do their work. They can eat at the computer and take a nap during lunch. They can wait out a computer outage by watching TV and get back to work when the system comes back up.
The bad part about being a consultant that works at the facility kicks in at this point. The facility does not want me to have downtime (not at what they are paying me. Trust me, I do not work for cheap) but they are stuck. At the same time, because I do not work for cheap and I do not want them looking for someone else, I accept when they ask me to go home and make up my time during the week.
All this-because the network went down.
What is worse, the medical staff also uses the system for background on people who have already visited the facility. While this is more useful information than something they need right now dammit, it is still very much of an issue.
Now, I agree that the electronic system is better than the old one. It takes finesse now to cherry-pick, meaning sneak the easy records and leave the hard ones for someone else, without being caught. It means that more than one people can look at the record at a time. There is a lot less dust in the medical records department. Paper sucks up and distribute dust, and I have asthma, so this is a real plus for me.
But on days like this-well, I could wish we were a little behind the times.
