"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Efficiency of Government

Every day I pass by an electric typewriter that sits outside my office.  I finally stopped and asked why do we continue to have a typewriter in our work area.  The response was that we could probably move it to the Mailroom, but we use it with some frequency. What? Huh? Really?  A typewriter used frequently in 2012.  What work product generated by this health system could possibly require the use of a typewriter?  Are you ready for this?  THE GOVERNMENT.  There are a number of forms that we have to complete and send to the Federal Government that can only be typed.  Need I say more?  There are Federal Government requirements that exist for health care related to meaningful use and an industry wide conversion to electronic "everything" by this same government that continues to require forms be typewritten.  The good news is that the instances requiring typewritten forms continue to decline, but they are not yet eliminated.  Also, the typewriter has now found its new home in the Mailroom.  Next stop, a museum.


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