Healthcare IT Strategy

Some argue that skewed logic is better than none at all. I’m not some people. What is skewed logic? It’s drawing an errant conclusion from a set of facts. If A and B, then C. For example, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is the discussion to deduce if a woman is a witch.
Why do witches burn?
Villager: Because they’re made of…..wood?
B: Goooood!
Other Villagers: oh yeah… oh….
B: So. How do we tell whether she is made of wood?
One Villager: Build a bridge out of ‘er!
B: Aah. But can you not also make bridges out of stone?
Villagers: oh yeah. oh. umm…
B: Does wood sink in water?
One Villager: No! No, no, it floats!
Other Villager: Throw her into the pond!
Villagers: yaaaaaa!
B: What also floats in water? …
King Arthur: A Duck!
Villagers: (in amazement) ooooooh!
B: exACTly!
B: (to a villager) So, *logically*…
Villager: If…she…weighs the same as a duck……she’s made of wood.
B: and therefore…
Villager: A Witch!
All Villagers: A WITCH!

Let’s depict this like a business problem.


There you have it. So campers, where could we possibly heading with this? Here’s where. We’re starting a hospital; THEREFORE we need an ENR.  Washington is giving away money; therefore we need an EHR.

If that logic was correct, if that logic was both necessary and sufficient how would we know it? One way is we would see a bunch of doctors running towards EHRs rather than away from them. The reason this logic is faulty is that the lifeblood of the EHR is about one thing—the records.

So, if the EHR is made of wood and weighs the same as a duck…