“The fastest growing specialty in healthcare is scribes to feed the EHR: only in healthcare can we computerize and add FTEs.”
The last point above is the visible tip of an iceberg-sized social conundrum. The natural reward for healthy behavior is good health, of course, and what matters more than that? If adult individuals don’t care enough about their health to work on it, who is supposed to care on their behalf? Employers care up to a point, because health impacts productivity. The government cares, if you assume that the government is the unlimited payer of last resort. How much employers/government should do to change behavior of adults who won’t take responsibility for their health is an issue that we will wrestle with for a long time.
Digital technology offers a river of new data with potential clinical value, but much of it is not usable. Doctors say that 85% of their patients simply do not comply with medical advice. Patients are increasingly cranky: they know more, demand more transparency, and are less satisfied. Expectations of doctors’ ability to deliver value are rising. Rising doctor frustration makes sense to me.
Forum for Healthcare Freedom 
“feed the EHR”…”computerize and (then) add FTEs”… I love it… Even when said in those stark, honest terms there are those that still don’t see how ridiculous it all is; continuing their blind allegiance to the cause. It just proves that with a good marketing campaign, a lot of money, good “buzz words” and the right spokes persons… anything can be sold… or made to seem like a good idea despite evidence to the contrary.
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