When was the last time you heard anyone say something positive about electronic health records (EHRs)? Many ophthalmologists and physicians are obliged to use them, and find them burdensome: both difficult to use and time consuming. These systems may hold the promise of revolutionizing patient care by reducing costs and increasing efficiency… but their implementation into clinics has been met with increased frustration and discontent. The users just aren’t seeing any of the benefits, and worryingly, many feel that they’ve negatively impacted patient care. But are ophthalmologists, and physicians, being blinded by the “good old” days of paper records and unable to see how EHRs could improve the day-to-day practice of medicine?

Perhaps everyone needs to see the bigger picture. Remember the simulation game craze of the 1990s, which started with SimCity and included Theme Hospital? It’s now possible to move beyond gameplay scenarios and actually simulate the working of real hospitals and clinics – all thanks to the data collected by EHRs. The numbers of patients, waiting times, workflow, resource usage, even doctor and technician time utilization can all be modeled, and the resulting simulations could be used to virtually “stress test” new scenarios without inconveniencing or disrupting clinical workflow. This is hugely important in ophthalmology: anything that helps treat the increasing numbers of patients with age-related eye disease more effectively and efficiently with the same resources would be welcomed with open arms.

Michael Chiang is an expert on this topic. Here, he shares his story on the EHR research conducted at his institute – and how they’ve used the technology to their advantage.