On January 14th, I decided to completely take control of my health. This is not about lack of trust in my PCP, its about the one-to-one (me & me) vs. one-to-many relationship (doc to many patients) for my health experience. I still highly rely on my PCP and love the guy!!!

So last week I picked up a copy of all the notes and test results. This only goes back to 2000 but that is more then enough to get started with. Boy will I need some help!!! Since I don't have any direct clinical background I am having a hard time comprehending the short-hand. I am able to make out a lot, such as my jumps in weight and A1C test results from year to year as well as words  "diet and exercise" during each of my visits.

While I am fighting my way through pages and pages of medical history, it spurred yet another thought on Obama's aggressive plan. The goal is to create jobs and cut long-term costs as a result of conversion to EMR. This obviously makes my record (1) readable, (2) theoretically portable, (3) hopefully secure and hence my treatment (1) enhanced, (2) more accurate, (3) with a tint of consumerism. Having said that, how many man hours will it take to convert each doctor's unique handwriting either via ICR/OCR + human capital?

If you have done EMR conversion of your office, I would love to hear what it took! I am curious on the $$ amount, number of man hours, percent of automation vs. human workforce.

Stay tuned for Part III