This latter deficiency is especially troublesome because the underlying technology and infrastructure of an electronic patient medical record system must incorporate the ability to communicate between one system and another. Although, many organizations are addressing standards and issues related to electronic patient medical record systems, no organization is focusing on the necessity for vendors to incorporate the specific needs of the practicing physician in the ambulatory care setting. Since there are no agreed upon standards for electronic patient medical record systems, the vendor community is creating a variety of electronic patient medical record systems that are often incompatible. This situation leaves little guidance for physicians in selecting systems. This incompatibility is especially acute because clinical efficiency often demands that multiple programs be available on a single workstation.
Physicians often use multiple computerized programs in an ambulatory setting.
Unfortunately, vendors have not effectively dealt with this need for multiple systems and physicians must often switch from program to program in a cumbersome fashion. In addition, many physicians have expressed concerns about data input inefficiencies. For an electronic patient medical record system to become a success, it must facilitate direct data entry in a time-efficient manner. The AMA believes that a true private sector approach to standards development is needed, with the role of the federal government much more sharply limited than has been the case with the development of administrative transactions standards. The federal government could play a useful role, however, in helping to identify any gaps in standards, as well as helping to facilitate and prioritize standards development.