Robert Gleeman
Medical Journalist for emrupdate.com
email me
I had read the EMR Update biography on the creator of this forum, Kirk Voelker, M.D., which is located here. But as usual, I wanted to report on the deeper meaning of the story, the feelings behind the facts. In an exclusive interview with Dr. Voelker, I asked him the big question: Why did you create something more addictive than smoking, the EMR Update Forum, and then, turn it loose upon the doctors of the world?
He answered, laughing, "I was in a ten-man group, and it was my job to find the EMR. What I found were many companies that were willing to make promises, but I had no idea whether or not there was any substance to those promises. And there was no way to find out. You had to buy the product and find out if you liked it.
"So initially, I compiled a spreadsheet comparing the 100 EMRs of the time, and I tried to compare them. I put a lot of my time into it, and I thought other doctors might like to see it, so I put it on the Web. That's really the genesis of EMR Update."
At first, did many people show an interest in this objective approach to EMR information? Was it instantly popular?
"Yes," Dr. Voelker confirmed, "I soon found out that I was not alone, that many doctors were just as confused about EMR as I was."
My "big question", of course, was ‘How did Nick Harrington, our beloved publisher and authentic English expert (he lives 20 miles away from Shakespeare's birthplace) come into the picture?'
| Dr. Voelker explained, "At the time, I was also thinking of designing my own EMR software. I was actually working on it with a programmer from Bulgaria. I was subcontracting with him to come up with an EMR that would match my particular workflow. Nick Harrington has a software company called Ambay Software (www.ambay.com) with many customers in the banking industry. I thought we might be able to combine his file management software with our EMR. Nick just has the right heart for this. He is all about honesty and good to know." |
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"EMR Update doesn't have an agenda. EMR Update doesn't want to sell you an EMR or lead you to any single conclusion." |
I mentioned to Dr. Voelker that my mission was to improve EMR Update's income, allow us to do more things AND make sure every Doctor visits EMR update before selecting an EMR. I asked Dr. Voelker if he thinks my goal is realistic. Shouldn't every doctor at least be aware of EMR Update and the information it provides?
He replied, "I do, because the EMR Update Forum doesn't have an agenda. EMR Update doesn't want to sell you an EMR or lead you to any single conclusion. When I was comparing EMRs, I tried to rate them on a scale of one to ten. But I soon realized that I was rating them based on my own workflow, and what might be great for me, might be horrible for another doctor."
According to Dr. Voelker, EMR Update is unique because: "There is also no pressure to buy anything, but lots of incentive to learn and to share. Also, since EMR Update is the earliest forum of its kind, it became ‘well-linked'. We are easy to find on Google with today a 5/10 PageRank rating. There is an advantage to being the first."
I then posed the question of finance. Here, we have the EMR Update Forum, which, for many doctors and EMR vendors, seems to be more addicting than cigarettes, yet, unlike those who sell tobacco, EMR Update just gets by with some EMR Vendor sponsorship, unpredicatble Google AdSense clicks and Nick asking for donations once-in-a-while. In a day when YouTube is sold for $1.65bn dollars, what are we doing wrong?
"Probably what we should do is work on pharmaceutical advertising." Dr. Voelker said, somewhat reluctantly. "We did not originally want to take EMR advertising, fearing that it would compromise our objectivity, but we did plan to sell ad space to big pharmaceutical manufacturers. For some reason, I think we forgot that, or our day-jobs got in the way!"
What, if anything, does Dr. Voelker worry about in regard to EMR Update?
"I worry that doctors aren't taking advantage of EMR Update's full potential. If a doctor is interested in EMR Brand A, he should do a search of the Forum for all the discussion on Brand A and see what everyone has to say about it — before they write that check. I don't know if people are doing that. With the latest version of forum software that we're using we also get intelligent TAGd. (Editors note: TAGs appear within the TAG cloud, meaning a Doctor could click a vendors TAG for every post about them) I've already spotted a few of the smarter EMR vendors adding their TAG to favorable posts going back years " [Editor's note: Shall we ask Nick to explain TAGs?]
What does Dr. Voelker see as EMR stumbling blocks?
| "There are still proponents of Dr.Notes!" exclaimed Dr. Voelker. "If we did nothing else for doctors except to help them steer clear of that disaster, we will have served a good purpose." |
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"It's hard to know which EMR fits your style without test-driving it. That's not too hard to do with an ASP, an online EMR, but for a standalone EMR, its labor intensive, and often a problem. The biggest problem, however, is that doctors know only what the EMR sales reps tell them, and that usually isn't enough information upon which to base a purchasing decision. EMR vendors should take a lesson from what Dr. Chiu (SynapseDirect.com) offers. I've downloaded his software anonymously with no strings, installed it, and been doing my own demonstration about 2 minutes after the download completed." |
As any salesperson knows, when a prospective client has been given so little information that he can make no decision, that is equivalent to a "No!" decision. Could this be the missing link of logic for those who ponder the slowness of EMR adoption by doctors? I suggested to Dr. Voelker that doctors have a real need to know about EMR software, which may help explain the addicting nature of EMR Update.
"There are still proponents of Dr.Notes!" exclaimed Dr. Voelker. "If we did nothing else for doctors except to help them steer clear of that disaster, we will have served a good purpose." Would Dr. Voelker say that doctors who do not read EMR Update are at a disadvantage when they go out to purchase an EMR program? "Absolutely," says Dr. Voelker.
Regarding the heated discussions (this thread) we've had in the EMR Update medical forum regarding smoking cessation, Dr. Voelker's specialty, (see his web page at: www.smokingshot.com) he still remembers the high level of emotions.
The background is that after a few attempts to quit smoking with Zyban®, Nick Harrington went to Florida last August 2005 for treatment at Dr. Voelker Stop Smoking Clinic™. After his last smoke on Dr. Voelker's deck, Nick is still a delighted ex-smoker. I asked Dr. Voelker "Apart from having to inject Nick in the butt, if he had any particular (more pleasant) memories from those heated smoking cessation debates?"
"I go through painstaking measures to make sure people don't think this is some ‘magical shot' that makes you quit smoking," he said. "The shot is just something to help you get over the hump of the initial physical withdrawal, which is just the first two weeks. But it also involves educating the patient that even smoking one cigarette is going to lead to a pack a day within a week."
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"There are also many substances in cigarettes, such as added ammonia, intended to increase the addictive qualities — very much like "freebasing" which is insidious. What the tobacco companies have done is terrible."
I agreed, as someone who recently quit smoking, I still have some strong cravings for a cigarette, but not for the nicotine gum which I used as a crutch to stop smoking. |
Dr. Voelker elaborated on that thought, saying, "Now think about the fact that chemists in suits and ties titrated that cigarette to make sure you have the strongest possible cravings, and they did it in the best laboratory money can buy. Doesn't that make you mad?"
Now that you mention it, Dr. Voelker, it sort of does.
But, not as mad as I would be if I had bought Dr.Notes before checking on EMR Update.
[YouTube:-caAmvckMpA]
Click the above to watch Dr. Voelker's introduction to his Stop Smoking Clinic.
For more information call 1-(866) 355 QUIT (1-866-355-7848),
visit his website here or contact Dr. Voelker by email.
Posted
Oct 18 2006, 04:54 AM
by
Robert Gleeman