Those ICD10 codes originated actually originated in 1763, here is a great article on them.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article....The original intent was noble - to classify and track diseases across populations to better understand healthcare challenges in societies. It is now an integral part of the payment system across the US. We physicians live or die financially by proper coding of a particular visit. It is just one of the many unfunded mandates placed on us.
It is worth a gander sometimes to read through them. ICD10data.com. For example, in breast cancer, we have codes for each area of the breast, right or left, female or male. We don't have a trans-man or trans-woman code yet but I am sure that is in the offing. There are even codes for war (Y35, Y36) and terrorism (Y38). I deal mostly in the C codes (cancer) and D (blood diseases).
My personal favorite is X35 Volcanic eruption. There is X35.XXXA Volcanic eruption, initial encounter. X35.XXXD Volcanic eruption, subsequent encounter and X35.XXXS Volcanic eruption, sequela.
I guess that is how you would code the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum!!!
As to physicians standing up for this EMR crap. We tried, we really did. This was all happening in the early 2000s. What we found out was that we had really lost all control over patient care about a decade prior, the hospital lobby pushed for this to improve their billing and we were told to put and shut up so must of us went along or walk away from 10 years of training and debt. Would it have helped to "make a stand"? Probably. However, getting physicians to work together is like herding cats even when it is in their best interests to do so.
These EMRs are also used to data mine and match diagnosis codes with CPT/E&M codes and track billing. That is used by CMS to get a handle on where Medicare $$ is going and for insurance companies to do underwriting. We doctors get a scorecard on how we much we cost per diagnosis code and that is used to control access to hospital privileges and insurance panels. We did get some $$ to go electronic but it only covered about 25% of the cost of doing so. Many primary care or folks near retirement just retired or joined a big system as there was no way they were going to recoup that cost.
EMRs have spawned an entire new industry within healthcare - the HIPPA enforcement, data management & security, EMR software companies and the IT guys are smiling all the way to the bank.
And lastly, your PHI (personal health information) is an absolute gold mine for hackers and bad actors. One person's PHI is worth about $2000 on the black market. These folks either hold the info for ransom or use that PHI to put in fake charges, get paid and then disappear to the Caymans. Happens all the time with Medicare. Medicare doesn't even investigate until it is $5M or so.
I have long advocated for patients to have the system Karl advocated above. This would be great especially for poor people as they are often in healthcare systems with poor record keeping and continuity of care. A truly decentralized system where the patient & doctor are in control. I guess a girl can dream.