Game Review: EPIC Systems EHR

David Mann | EP Studios | November 3, 2012

EPIC has banned my use of the screenshots.  The original post follows, considerably damaged by the lack of screenshots.  Thanks a lot, EPIC!

Here at EP Studios we don’t often venture into the entertainment realm of computing, but alas here we’ll make an exception, given the medical subject of this game.  EPIC EHR (for Electronic Health Record) asks the player to envision an alternative universe ruled from behind the scenes by a group known only as “The Digerati” (a conglomerate of government, business, and alien forces) whose motive is to take every human task and “digitize” it, no matter how ill-suited for this kind of treatment.  The scope of this conspiracy includes the field of Medicine. 

The world of paper medical charts, unit secretaries transcribing written orders, and doctors giving verbal orders over the phone has been deemed too dangerous to continue, because of the unwieldiness of the records, the risk of transcription errors, and illegibility of doctors’ handwriting.  Showing a modicum of humor in an otherwise humorless game, the solution to all this is to completely throw out this admittedly flawed but tried and true system and substitute an electronic health record (EHR) system, so that every medical practitioner must log onto a computer (which must be profligate to make this work) for every action taken...