We need to talk about electronic medical records. Dr. Danielle Ofri certainly does. Why? The physician-author of the newly published volume, When We Do Harm, tells our Jonathon Swersey, on the latest episode of this podcast: “I was just tearing my hair out” because a patient requested a biopsy report and she spent nearly 45 minutes trying to extract it from the EMR. When Ofri says “Now it falls on the clinicians to somehow find time to customize the EMR to make it workable,” you get a vivid sense of how EMRs contribute to physician burnout.
Ofri, it turns out, has all kinds of strong opinions. Listen to this episode and you’ll learn, for instance, how shame functions in the world of medical error. (After making an error as a second-year resident, she says: “It took me 20 years till I could talk about and write about it.”) Ofri also discusses the naming of medicines, the common good and American healthcare, and what it’s like to practice medicine during the current pandemic and prepare for the next one.
Attend to Ofri, Resonance Test listeners. When she speaks, she does good.
Host: Kyle Wing
Editor: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon
About the Author
- Jonathon Swersey
A highly creative and analytical leader, Jonathon specializes in developing implementable strategies for senior executives.
Previously, Jonathon has worked at Innosight, Dell, and BCG where led teams and partnered with c-level clients to develop their innovation strategies, build their innovation capabilities, and accelerate the development and impact of their new products and services.
Jonathon lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife Julie and daughters Belle (7) and Sadie (4). Outside of work, he raises money to fight childhood cancer by riding the 192 mile Pan Mass Challenge. Jonathon holds an MBA from Yale with concentrations in Strategy and Finance and a B. Sc. in Biology from Binghamton University.
More from Jonathon Swersey 
Ken GordonChief Communications SpecialistKen makes EPAM Continuum’s work visible to the necessary people. He creates superlative content, works with colleagues to do the same, and employs social networks to share it widely.
A card-carrying humanist, Ken co-founded QuickMuse, the improvisational writing website, and JEDLAB, the Jewish education community. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, the New York Times, and many other pubs.
Ken has an English degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Albany. He framed both diplomas long ago, but can’t seem to find them now—a fact he considers all-too-human.
More from Ken Gordon
