EHR systems used for large networks for healthcare delivery today are quite often seen as being far from user-friendly. They are viewed as being far from flexible and costly in their configuration. Sometimes referred to as monolithic, EHR are almost always purchased from vendors and they require a vast amount of time, budget, and consulting assistance before they can be deployed, supported, and optimized. The popular systems seem to mostly be built around existing technology...
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a US federal law that was enacted in 1996. It was legislated to ensure that people can carry their health insurance from one company to another as they made progress in their careers or moved to other parts of the country. It was also meant to make the transfer of medical records from one health institution to the next easier. Lastly, HIPAA underscores the right of...
If healthcare were like popular music, most current EMR implementations could be compared to Top 40 radio, they focus on nothing but the latest hits. And while the hits may be fine for music, clinicians need more than the ‘hits’ to fully understand and diagnose their patients. To take the analogy further, clinicians need the entire back catalogue of albums to get a 360-degree patient view — which can be a challenge in today’s electronic...
During the Q&A period after a presentation I gave recently on understanding and preventing physician burnout, a physician in the audience voiced her vehement objections to the current electronic health record (EHR) with a simple statement: “We need a revolution.” In a few words she described her frustrations with the EHR. “It is meaningless—full of fields that we cut and paste from other fields. There are an ever-growing number of pull-down menus and boxes to...
A good practice management solution is just like an oracle for your office. Often, companies get confused when it comes to buying an electronic practice management solution or system. They get confused because there are 2 types of practice management systems; there are bundled EMRs and then there are 2 interfaced systems. Both of these types result in complications in buying a specific practice management solution. So, here is what you should look for when...
In their survey, Black Book revealed that 70% of clinicians indicated their willing to use mobile Electronic Health Records (EHRs) devices and software by the end of 2015. What were the main outcomes of the survey? The survey had some interesting outcomes. 52% of practice physicians currently access patient records and/or reference data from a mobile device. Only 31% of physicians utilize smart phones as part of their individual patient management strategies. Emergency physicians, radiologists, OB/GYN,...
