Can Genesis take away Dr. Ben’s worries?
By Dr. Brian Capra
“You could have called me!” Carmen spoke from the foot of the stairs.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” said Dr. Ben, dropping his keys into the bowl on their hall table and closing the door behind him, “but things got away from me at work. Where’s our little guy?”
“In bed,” Carmen said pointedly. “After he and I gave up on you and ate the dried-out, overcooked dinner that sat in the oven for an extra half-hour while we waited, I bathed him and read his story and put him to bed.”
“I didn’t realize it was so late,” Ben protested.
“I guess not. And you weren’t answering your phone–”
“I was talking on my phone, and the office phone–”
“Oh, I know about the office phone. I heard the message several times. It says what to do in case of a medical emergency, but not in case of worrying because you don’t show up for dinner and I don’t know where you are.”
“I’m sorry,” Ben sighed. “Is there any dinner left?”
“You mean the overcooked, dried-out dinner? Sure. Let me get you some.” Carmen stalked into the kitchen.
Ben followed her. “I’m sorry I didn’t call and I’m sorry you were worried, but could we put that aside for a moment? I was actually looking forward to telling you that I think I found a solution for the ONC certification issue.”
Carmen gave Ben a sidelong look. She fixed a plate and put it into the microwave. “Okay, tell me,” she said.
“First of all, IRS code 179 allows me to deduct the entire cost of the software for this change. I haven’t hit $500,000 in deductions yet, so I can basically let Uncle Sam chip in on any added software costs.”
“That’s great news!” Carmen set the plate in front of Ben and slid into the chair next to his.
“Plus,” Ben continued, taking a bite, “since I’m already using Genesis software, which is certified, I’m not looking at starting over. They sent me an eBook that goes into detail on what I need to do.”
“No more research?” Carmen asked, thinking of the time Ben had been spending searching for answers to all his questions about meaningful use certification.
“None. They can help me identify the objectives I’ve already met or can meet quickly, so I can put my time and energy into working hard on the ones that need hard work.”
“That sounds good.” Carmen was silent, watching Ben eat. “Better than that dinner.”
“Dinner’s fine,” Ben assured her. “Dinner’s always great when you fix it. And I appreciate your ability to be happy for me even when you’re mad at me.”
“I know this is a big deal for you,” Carmen acknowledged, “but you know you’re a big deal for me, and I was worried.”
“And worry quickly becomes anger when you realize you’ve put in all that worrying time for nothing,” Ben laughed. “I’m not angry about the solution to my electronic health records issues, though, let me tell you. Just relieved. There’s still plenty of work to be done, but no more worrying.”
Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
