It's Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was Dead

Re:It's Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was ... by in_cahoots on Monday October 06, 2025 @06:56PM (#45497240)

No. I can transcribe every interaction with 100% accuracy, but if those notes aren't used in any way it's not data-driven. This article shows that the notes are inaccurate, suggestions using the notes are routinely ignored, and that doctors and legal review think this process is acceptable. There is no professional or legal liability if the records are wrong. And yet if you talk to a medical professional they'll explain that the records are to establish a legal paper trail if anything goes wrong.

Some executive(s) have been told that detailed medical records are the solution to so many problems in modern medicine. But they lack either the guts or the expertise to make sure that these systems are actually accomplishing what they set out to do.

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Re:It's Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was ... by fluoridation on Monday October 06, 2025 @07:19PM (#45497421)

>suggestions using the notes are routinely ignored

Of course. The records are known to not be 100% accurate. Any conclusion you derive from them will be faulty.

>There is no professional or legal liability if the records are wrong.

Again, of course. In many cases it may not even be possible to show a record is incorrect. For example, if the record doesn't say a test was performed, but the patient insists that it was, is the record wrong, or is the patient mistaken? Or a doctor could incorrectly write down something that only he saw, such as a blood pressure value on a gauge.

I would guess a key obstacle to eliminating all these inaccuracies is that doctors don't see strict record-keeping as actually useful in helping patients. Every minute that they're taking notes of dubious future utility is a minute they could spend seeing a patient.

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Re:It's Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was ... by riknos314 on Monday October 06, 2025 @09:12PM (#45498306)

The real issue is the administration of the hospital sees every minute the doctors spend taking better records instead of seeing another patient as a loss of ability to bill someone's insurance for that time.

I'm sure there's many doctors who would like to take better notes if they were allowed the time to do so.

Maybe the case for better records reducing costs to insurance by assisting in prevention / early intervention is a path forward?

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