It’s no secret that many HIT advocates are frustrated at the pace of the HIT transition.

To be sure, the healthcare sector notoriously lags behind most other major sectors of the economy when it comes to implementing new technology. But sometimes it helps to step back and remember what, from the providers perspective, is actually involved.

This consultant provides just such a view, though it comes largely in the form of a warning that many providers are not using their EHRs properly.

“A disturbing number of practices,” he says, “have failed to analyze the clinical content of their EHR and are distributing exam documents and other information that do not adequately or accurately document patient care. In the more serious situations, EHR clinical documents misrepresent the care provided and the patient’s condition.”

The core issue, it seems, is providers not taking the time to understand the full capabilities of their new EHRs.

He goes on to argue that “these documentation errors and misrepresentations are a direct result of the nature of EHRs and how many practices initiate their use. As a practical matter, many physicians are concerned with the level of effort needed to complete documentation for a patient.”

It’s that concern “with the level of effort” that policymakers probably need to worry about. After all, it’s pretty understandable that providers who already feel under the gun are inclined to take whatever reasonable-seeming shortcuts that come their way.

And those shortcuts, this consultant says, are the problem.

In the end, he lists a number of steps providers should take in order to avoid the pitfalls he warns against at the beginning. But guess what? It takes time to “train and verify”, and time is something many providers feel they already have in much-too-short supply.