Dr. David Blumenthal, who now is head of the Commonwealth Fund, has been a friend since we both were teenagers. It was a sign of his medical / tech / policy skills that the newly arrived Obama administration put him in charge of encouraging a shift toward use of electronic medical records. It is evidence of his admirably good-humored big-tent personality that David still takes my calls after the many rounds of back-and-forth we’ve posted here in response to his original Q&A in our April issue, about why the shift has been so difficult and taken so long.
For those joining us late, you can check out installments one, two, three, four, and five. Herewith number six, on the particular question of how the non-expert public — those of us who experience the medical system mainly as patients and bill-payers — should assess the opinions of physicians, nurses, and other inside participants. Should we give them more weight, because of their first-hand expertise? Less weight, because of possible institutional bias or blind-spots? Both at once? See for yourself.
First, the concerns of two physicians. One on the West Coast writes:
And from a doctor in Kentucky:
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Date: Apr 14 2014