Michael Ciampi runs a family medical practice in Portland, Maine, that’s still entirely reliant on paper records. He has no plans to implement an electronic health records system anytime soon. Ciampi doesn’t have anything against technology, but a failed attempt to go electronic several years ago left him frustrated. “What we found was a system that just wasn’t patient-centered,” Ciampi says. “The primary function was to enhance billing, not to build a physician-patient relationship. Our productivity went down 25 percent.”
About one-fifth of doctors don’t have an electronic health record system, commonly called an EHR, implemented in their offices. For those who do, frustrations with the technology are well documented. Only 34 percent of doctors surveyed by the American Medical Association said they were happy with their electronic systems.
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