Walmart's IT system

Is probably complex. Walmart has to manage millions of products on thousands of shelves in each one of their many Walmarts across the US. Do I know how their back-end IT system works? No. Do I care to know? No. Do I care that when I go to Walmart to get a Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix that it is there waiting for me at one low price? Yes. I care.

Likewise, in health care we make much hullabaloo about health IT systems. We ask patients (ie, consumers of health care) how they feel about these systems and whether or not they know and care if their doctor uses such a system. These questions continue to make me laugh. Just like my feelings about Walmart's IT, I have the same feelings about my doctor's IT system. Do I care that they have one? No. Do I care to know the complexities of their system? No. Do I care that I am provided with top-notch quality care, convenient service, short waiting times, and a follow-up? Yes. I care. Will I find the doctors that provide me with that type of service? Yes, I will. I shop my doctors, not their IT systems.