Why Does the ADA Promote eDRs?
By Darrell K. Pruitt DDS
Not so Fast!
Before a dentist trustingly accepts the recommendation of the American Dental Association and unwittingly converts his or her practice to paperless, one should read the story I copied below which was posted on VillageSoup.com yesterday.
Unlucky dentist loses everything …
Worst Way to Start Off the Year
I have been on my own for last 7 yrs. We have a small business server (windows 2003) 6 work stations, completely paperless using Dentrix 11 and Vixwin platinum. One morning, when we returned to work, we could not access the server. Went into panic mode! Not able to get anything! Not knowing the schedule. Who is coming what they are coming for, etc. It was decided that my server crashed. It was set up w/2 hard drives to mirror each other and also had an external drive back up (Seagate). We ended up rushing the drives to a data recovery company in (data doctors). They sounded very promising claim 90% success). I agreed to pay additional $4100 to rush case! We were led to believe all is well once they diagnosed case. A few hrs later every thing changed. We got the bad news that both drives are not recoverable since they found a minute scratch on one of the plates. Also we are not able to recover anything from the external drive.
At this point I have lost all patient records including x rays going back 7 yrs. I have no access to schedule, ledgers, notes, insurance, X-rays, anything. This is leading both me and my wife into depression. We are very stressed, at a loss. This is a catastrophic loss. Not sure how to move forward?
I am worried about the liability on top of everything else. How do I tell my patients? How do I know who paid for what balances on work that needs to be done, etc. I keep waking up at night thinking of all the possible problems.
This is the lowest point in my career. I don’t even want to go into the office from stress. If any one can offer any advice I would really appreciate it. I know in the past you guys lifted me up. I love forum name.
Thank you.
Assessment
On top of the anguish this person already suffers, the HIPAA violation must be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services. Thanks to HITECH, an expensive inspection is likely to follow. The dentist’s letter reminds me of a desperate private note from a dentist a few months ago describing his HIPAA violation. He lost a laptop computer he was using as a daily backup device. Since there were thousands of his patients’ unencrypted PHI on the computer, he was similarly paralyzed by the same cold and lonely panic a professional feels when optimistic career plans suddenly crumble into a dark void that includes abject business failure. People sometimes hurt themselves and others when even choosing to do the right thing leads to ruin. A person with any compassion can tell from reading the dentist’s plea for help that the newer harsher penalties from HHS and state Attorneys General for data breaches will only further destroy the lives of innocent dentists and their families. HITECH is cruel nonsense in dentistry and ADA leaders are stone-cold heartless.
Although encryption is strongly advised in the “ADA Practical Guide to HIPAA Compliance,” If ADA officials dared to keep track of their failure in promoting safe digital dental records, I bet their own data would show that less than 3% of US dental patients’ PHI is encrypted. Yet proud leaders in my profession remain stoically unresponsive to members’ and patients’ concerns about risks of data breaches. They call their aloofness “professionalism.” It infuriates me that shy ADA officials hide from personal accountability for the careless harm they cause dentists and dental patients.
“Image is everything” – ADA/IDM slogan
The nation’s ambulatory healthcare providers – including dentists, podiatrists, chiropractic doctors and physicians – cannot continue to blindly trust our professional organizations to protect our practices from the dangers of the electronic health records they promote for their personal benefit. We’ve been sold out.
Assessment
As far as I can tell, selfish ADA leaders with careers invested in dental informatics just can’t tolerate truth. When I consider the pain they cause at no risk to themselves, I say the parasites should be encouraged to move on down the road and look for their power in a field where they won’t endanger others.
Conclusion
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Filed under: Information Technology, Op-Editorials, Practice Management, Pruitt's Platform | Tagged: ADA, Darrell Pruitt DDS, DDS, eDRs, EMRs, HIPAA, VillageSoup.com | 10 Comments »