CCHIT Staff
It’s no secret that one of the most difficult aspects of adopting electronic health records (EHR) is actually implementing the chosen solution within the practice. And it’s often said, we should learn from our—or other’s—mistakes.
That’s what makes this list of the “five biggest mistakes when implementing an EHR” so compelling.
So—thanks to those mistakes—what are the lessons learned?
- Lesson #1: Know your product before go-live
- Lesson #2: Set a date to leave paper behind
- Lesson #3: Use HIM to understand workflow
- Lesson #4: Start with clean data
- Lesson #5: Scan, don’t store
But it’s the details behind this guidance that provide the real insight. So if you’re in the midst of an EHR implementation or if you’re in the market for an EHR, you should find the Advance for Health Information Executives article very helpful.
CCHIT Staff
What do the most financially successful physicians have in common? According to the MGMA, many of those physicians have chosen to go paperless by adopting electronic health records (EHR):
Not surprisingly, better performers also invest more in computerization. Among single-specialty primary-care groups in 2006, better performers allocated $3,260 more per full-time-equivalent physician on information technology than other groups. Likewise, better performing multispecialty groups outspent others on IT by $3,525 per doctor.
Read more about what makes a “better performer,” in Medical Economics “EHR: More prosperous practices tend to be paperless.”
CCHIT Staff
In “EMRs show commitment to quality,” Laura Adams, President and chief executive officer, Rhode Island Quality Institute, Providence, provides a sobering perspective on how long we’ve been working on the transition away from paper records:
[B]elieve it or not, it has also been more than 40 years since the U.S. healthcare industry first began talking about replacing paper as the medium of choice for communicating patient medical information by creating clinical information networks and electronic medical record systems. Since then, progress has been painstakingly slow. Paper is still, by far, the dominant medium used to collect, store, analyze and share vital patient medical information.
And her take on Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message” hints that, perhaps, the medium in which we convey and collect medical information has the potential to convey some very positive views about the practice of medicine:
Regardless of the quality, accuracy and integrity of the contents of a medical record, the mere fact that it is paper-based limits its effectiveness as a communication medium in the context of 21st century healthcare delivery. Conversely, an electronic HIE system has the potential to deliver the message that the industry is unified, efficient, safe and patient-centered.
So, what will it take to help facilitate this transition? Read more of Adams’ thoughts in “EMRs show commitment to quality.”
CCHIT Staff
The EMR/EHR Show has posted a great article, highlighting that EHR problems often have less to do with the tool and more to do with communicating about the tool:
Whether you’re a physician, an office manager, an office staffer, or an EMR vendor/service provider, if you’ve ever sighed deeply or gritted your teeth, there’s a certain eye-to-eye linkage that just isn’t happening.
And part of fixing that problem is being open to questions from others. And asking those questions yourself.
Many of us come from hard-won positions of authority. You know what you know, by dint of hard work, navigating the treacherous waters of office politics, or years of carefully accumulating critical data.
And when someone asks you a question that they really ought to know better than to ask, what happens? Your eyeballs cross — especially if it’ll cost you time, sweat, or money to deal with.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. And finding a different way to respond could be the difference between success and failure with your EHR.
Interested in learning how to help prevent failure and ensure that you’ll be more successful with your EHR implementation? Try reading “Want help solving your EMR problems? Be helpful!“
CCHIT Staff
The Healthcare Blog reports on a recent Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey on healthcare providers that has consumers leaning more heavily toward physicians who adopt technology.
According to the report:
Most adults today believe it is fair to measure healthcare quality based on the use of electronic medical records; two years ago fewer than half of all adults believed this was a fair measure of quality.
Further, consumers are nearly unanimous on their desires for physician Web sites:
9 in 10 Americans are interested in their health plans having a website where you could rate doctors on issues like trust, communications, medical knowledge, availability and office environment – and participating on such social networks
For more information, download the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey results (PDF).
CCHIT Staff
John D. Halamka, MD, MS, has been talking to colleagues in Massachusetts about how they found funding electronic health record purchases:
Over the past two months, I’ve written about Electronic Health Record project management, architecture, planning, technology, and staffing, but the hardest part of the entire project is “What’s it going to cost and who’s going to pay”. Stark safe harbors allow hospitals to support up to 85% of startup and implementation costs, excluding physician office hardware.
The systems Halamka highlights include Beth Israel Deaconess, Caritas, Children’s Hospital Boston, Mt. Auburn Hospital, New England Baptist Hospital, Partners Healthcare System, and Winchester Hospital. To read about their experiences, visit “Electronic Health Records for non-owned doctors - Funding.”
CCHIT Staff
Minnesota has awarded its first EHR loans as part of a new $6.3 million Electronic Health Record Revolving Account and Loan Program.
Swift County-Benson Hospital in Benson, Minn. , and Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia, Minn., will borrow a total of $2,345,045 under the program to implement electronic health records in their communities.
The EHR loan program is underwritten by the Minnesota e-Health Initiative, a series of programs designed to stimulate the adoption of technology by healthcare providers.
Why the push? Minnesota healthcare providers will be required to use EHR by 2015:
Minnesota law requires all state healthcare providers to use electronic patient health records by January 1, 2015, so they can exchange patient health information and deliver optimal care at all points of the healthcare system.
For more information, visit Healthcare IT News or the Minnesota e-Health Initiative.
CCHIT Staff
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has released its latest EMR User Satisfaction survey:
The 422 respondents reported on a total of 61 different EHR systems, the majority of which were reported by three or fewer respondents; on the other hand, the 13 systems most commonly mentioned, each reported by 12 or more respondents, accounted for 80 percent (336) of the responses. In the analysis below, we report system-specific results for these 13 commonly reported systems, using pooled data from all 422 respondents as a point of reference against which to view the system-specific results. We chose to focus on these 13 systems because we believed that we had enough responses on each to represent a reasonable spread of opinions on the system.
The survey did not specifically call out the version numbers of the recommended products, but a number of the products mentioned have a CCHIT Certified version available.
Products making the cut include (when in specific product names are in question, the latest version of the CCHIT Certified product is listed):
For more information or to download the PDF of the AAFP EMR report, see the AAFP EMR User Satisfaction Survey report in Family Practice Management.
CCHIT Staff
Electronic Medical Records (EMR) save employers money, so businesses should help underwrite them. This according to feedback from leading businesses and healthcare companies at an EMR-focused event sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“In 2008, information technology is second nature,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting Administrator Kerry Weems said. “Doctors’ offices are the last bastion of the paper economy. We can’t live with that any longer.”
Healthcare professionals aren’t the only believers. Now, businesses are beginning to push for EMR, as well, after seeing a positive impact on their bottom line.
Employers hoping to save money and become more efficient in the long run must push for electronic medical records and pay a portion of the necessary implementation costs.
Further, the participants advised, only products that are pursuing standards-based interoperability should survive.
Competition between health IT providers should be based on whether the companies’ systems are compatible with other systems, a concept known as interoperability. Employers should vote with their checkbooks and “support vendors participating in interoperability standards,” said Mark Dente, vice president for healthcare solutions at GE Healthcare, which has been very active in the health IT market.
“If you invest in health, the [reduction in] costs will follow,” said Dave Nassef, vice president of the executive office of Pitney Bowes Executive Chairman Mike Critelli.
Let’s hope that investment continues to grow.
For more, see coverage from The Hill on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce EMR and healthcare technology event.
Technorati Tags:
EMR, electronicmedicalrecords
CCHIT Staff
A recent survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, designed to take the pulse on consumers’ view of US healthcare, has yielded a number of interesting results. But one of the most interesting data points is one that directly impacts physicians and their documentation:
60 percent want physicians to provide online access to medical records and test results, and online appointment scheduling; 1 in 4 say they would pay more for the service
Clearly, the number of patients wanting to access electronic health record information and communicate electronically with their healthcare providers continues to rise. And adopting an electronic health record system will be the only way to address this growing concern.
The survey, which solicited responses from more than 3,000 Americans ages 18-75, was designed to provide “an important and timely perspective on healthcare consumerism.” For more information or to access and executive summary of the report, visit Deloitte’s “Many U.S. Consumers Want Major Changes in Health Care Design, Delivery.”
