Once I have the reports I want, I typically explain to my patient that I want to print the information for the chart. The printer is in the nurse’s station, so this involves excusing myself from the exam room and hopefully returning quickly with papers in hand. Even this is not a guaranteed result. Sometimes the system demands an explanation of my right to print HIPAA-protected patient information. (Apparently, reading and printing are two distinct privileges.) Other times, the printer is in a foul mood or out of ink or toner or paper. Identifying the correct printer from a long list on the menu can also be a challenge.
To add insult to injury, I can seldom get the EMR to print out a 1- or 2-page x-ray report. For arcane reasons that are beyond my level of technical understanding, the printer usually spews out multiple extra pages of useless information about how the test was scheduled, how it was entered into the computer, and so on. My office is cleverly designed with the printer right next to the recycle bin into which I immediately drop the pages I never intended to print while clutching the clinical prize for myself. After I am done with the relevant pages, they too are recycled at the end of the day. As I was going through this futile struggle, I couldn’t help but imagine Al Gore crying in his beer about my carbon footprint, and the forest of trees that I was needlessly destroying. I gave Al a slap on the back and told him about my small success transferring documents from one EMR to the other without paper. He looked a little less morose and I said, "Cheer up, Al, this cut-and-paste’s for you!"