With use of EMRs in Canada at an all-time high,1 evidence showing that they improve medical outcomes is very thin at best. We should be practising evidence-based medicine, so why are the provincial and national medical organizations continuing to push EMRs?
EMRs also deteriorate the physician–patient relationship. They are a distraction, and physicians may spend more time looking at their computer screens than at their patients.
EMRs are expensive, time-consuming and complex to set up and maintain. The US, which has the most computerized medical system in the world, also has the most expensive medical system and far worse medical outcomes than most other industrialized nations.2
We should learn from our neighbour and focus our resources where they will have the biggest impact. I urge physicians who feel likewise to share these concerns with their local and national politicians and medical associations.