Care is transitioned every day. Between providers, diagnosticians, therapists, patients, and support systems, patients move, test results move, files move—and communication is LOST. Like the game called “telephone”… each pass of information changes the information communicated. This might be okay for gossip. Not for care. Not for care transitions. Yet because the communication paths are fraught with holes, redirection, and mishaps, and because the stakes are high and personal when miscommunication happens, the patient has to pave the way and manage each transition. In Peggy Jo’s case, the dependence on her to be the manager of her care transitions is LIFE-THREATENING.
It is easy for each of us to say: ‘But that is her, not me. I don’t have a life-threatening disease. This is an extreme case.’ Not true. This is the norm. The consequences are simply a matter of degree. Examples abound: the test result that is never communicated to the patient, the referral never completed, the discharge coordination never done, the patient education not understood. It is impossible to manage what you don’t know. In transitions of care today, nobody knows what is lost or misinterpreted. How can we manage a void like this? As Dr. Farzad Mostashari says, “Isn’t it better to know?”
HIT can help. But let’s not focus on the EMR as the endgame. Let’s focus on a health system supported by HIT that is collaborative, inclusive, fluid, responsive, and knowledgeable. A collaborative care record: Won’t it better to know?
