WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) chaired a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) full committee hearing on how to improve the electronic health records (EHR) system and the burdens EHRs put on physicians.
Treating uninsured and underinsured patients in Louisiana’s charity hospital system for nearly 30 years, Dr. Cassidy has firsthand experience working with EHRs.
“As a physician, time is better spent looking into a patient’s eyes to make sure that she comprehends that even though she has cancer, there is hope— as opposed to clicking through a computer screen to document something unimportant to her and required by someone far removed from the exam room,” said Dr. Cassidy.
“Senator Cassidy’s background as physician makes him the perfect chair for this important hearing,” said Chairman Alexander. “Our goal, through the hearings and our committee’s bipartisan working group, will be to identify the five or six steps we can take to improve electronic health records—technology that has great promise, but has, through bad policy and bad incentives, run badly off track.”
Watch Dr. Cassidy’s opening remarks HERE.