Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Unwise Choices: EHRs, PBMs, Drug Costs Are Leading to Physician Burnout

  |  Issue: November 2017  |  

Sound simple enough?

Simon M. Helfgott, MDSimon M. Helfgott, MD, is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

References

  1. Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Oct 8;172(18):1377–1385.
  2. Arndt BG, Beasley JW, Watkinson MD, et al. Tethered to the EHR: Primary care physician workload assessment using EHR event log data and time-motion observations. Ann Fam Med. 2017 Sep;15(5):419–426.
  3. Bob Dylan—Subterranean Homesick Blues. YouTube.
  4. Hunter C. Valeant CEO sees new drug pricing environment ahead. Reuters. 2015 Oct 19.
  5. Apple sold 34,000 iPhones per hour, 24 hours a day, every day of the holiday quarter. Mac Daily News. 2015 Jan 28.
  6. Caldwell P. We’ve spent billions to fix our medical records, and they’re still a mess. Here’s why. Mother Jones. 2015 Oct 21.
  7. Monegain B. EHR vendors among Forbes’ richest. 2012 Sep 21.
  8. Halamka JD, Tripathi M. The HITECH era in retrospect. N Engl J Med. 2017 Sep 7;377(10):907–909.
  9. Gordon WJ, Fairhall A, Landman A. Threats to information security—public health implications. N Engl J Med. 2017 Aug 24;377(8):707–709.
  10. Grant C. The murky world of drug rebates gets airing in lawsuit. The Wall Street Journal. 2017 Sep 20.
  11. Goldberg R. Reduce drug prices by eliminating PBM rebates. The Hill. 2017 Feb 14.
  12. Chuck E. CVS charges more for generic drugs paid for with insurance, lawsuit claims. NBC News. 2017 Aug 9.
  13. Thomas K, Ornstein C. Amid opioid crisis, insurers restrict pricey, less addictive painkillers. The New York Times. 2017 Sep 17.
  14. Rockoff JD. Allergan partners with Indian tribe to protect drug patents. The Wall Street Journal. 2017 Sep 8.
  15. Johnson CY. Specialty drugs now cost more than the median household income. The Washington Post. 2015 Nov 20.

Related Articles

    Measuring Up for Meaningful Use

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program—Meaningful Use—requires that eligible providers participating in the incentive program successfully demonstrate meaningful use of the EHR system by reporting on a set of core and menu functional objectives to qualify for incentive payments of up to $44,000.

    Study: Don’t Automatically Blame Burnout on Electronic Health Records

    When it comes to experiencing burnout, time spent in an electronic health records (EHR) system appears to be only a minor contributing factor. Although clinicians and other healthcare professionals may log many hours at the keyboard putting information into the EHR, other factors likely play a bigger role in the workplace exhaustion and feelings of…

    The New Year Brings New Opportunities in HIT

    January kicked off a new era for health information technology (HIT). A new year brings new opportunities, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) electronic health record (EHR) incentive program topping the list. But what is meaningful EHR use, and what does it mean for you? What are the steps to get started?