The blogs that I read regularly are full of posts from physicians bemoaning the shortcomings of electronic health records, from poor usability to exorbitant costs to the impact on face-to-face (or at least eye-to-eye) contact with patients. As someone heavily involved in the design and implementation of the Epic system at Johns Hopkins, I know most of these comments represent an accurate depiction of a technology that is a long way from achieving its stated goals of increasing interoperability, enhancing patient safety, and ultimately improving patient outcomes. But this great infographic from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) reminds us that despite all of their faults, EHR's are able to connect patients and doctors much more effectively than paper records ever could, and there is no turning back if medicine wants to thrive in the 21st century.
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