Greg, your last paragraph is spot on. I am increasingly worried re the "blind" implementation attempts and waste of money being expended in divisions in this manner. "data extraction tools" being installed by division IT people (of minimal qualifications and experience in many cases) and Doctors having no idea what the thing is or how to use it. "Don't worry we are here to help you....."
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Greg Twyford Sent: Tuesday, 11 July 2006 12:52 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; General Practice Computing Group Talk Subject: Re: [GPCG_TALK] Should clinical software be regulated? Michael Tooth wrote: > I wonder how much of this comes down to Professional pride. It > surprises me the rubbish that people will send out; the excuse is often > that there is "not enough time" or "I didn't know how to change it." > > If your carpenter couldn't sharpen his tools, or couldn't saw in a > straight line, you would question his ability. Computerised EHR is the > professional tool of the doctor. > > It all smacks of lazziness and poor professionalism to me. Michael, I think there is a wide spectrum operating here. It's also not entirely helpful to target the individual GP as being the problem in total. Some older GPs have been challenged by having to use computers and are still highly ambivalent. Some feel inadequate in their skills and do double work, by which I mean they still keep paper notes as well, which has obvious problems. Some are very skilled and diligent and see they are more productive. Some make my skin crawl. But I think the professional organisations and things like the GP accreditation process are also avoiding confronting lots of the hard issues of where the profession is on this stuff. The college's third edition standards will form the basis for future accreditation surveys. But how many surveyors will have the IT qualifications necessary to do a proper survey under these standards? As a person who spent 3 and a half years getting a tertiary IT qualification on top of my professional qualification I'd be unhappy if a weekend workshop was all that was seen to be needed. No real evaluation of this mass change in GP work practices was built into the whole thing, and seven years has gone by with only limited evaluation. Similarly, the standards arena has moved on very slowly. Mr Abbott has belatedly referred to some Sydney Uni research pointing to limited skills and referring to paperweights on desks, which was by and large, an overstatement. ACT Division did research in 2002 that blew the whistle on the poor standards of practice IM security, which has led to some improvements. Against this the expectations re breadth of use and skills expected, as well as the range of functionality pushed for adoption, continue to grow apace, without much in the way to help GPs keep up, or much recognition of the real costs, both financial and human that are required to reach a high overall standard. Yep, a case for accreditation of GPs use, but with suitably qualified surveyors, which would be another cost. Similarly, the ADGP's data extraction framework, which will determine if Divisions can meet the targets of their new reporting framework, and hence survive or not, looks like it will rely on unqualified staff at Division level, who may be expected to be installing software on practice PCs, despite the very significant risk-management issues involved for Divisions and GPs. Watch this space, it will be interesting. Greg -- Greg Twyford Information Management & Technology Program Officer Canterbury Division of General Practice E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph.: 02 9787 9033 Fax: 02 9787 9200 PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL *********************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail and their attached files, including replies and forwarded copies, are confidential and intended solely for the addressee(s) and may be legally privileged or prohibited from disclosure and unauthorised use. If you are not the intended recipient, any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance upon this message or its attachments is prohibited. All liability for viruses is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. *********************************************************************** _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
