Here we are going to talk about the second stage of shopping for an EHR. We are going to assume that you did your homework, defined your goals and constraints and prepared a comprehensive list of requirements for an EHR (if you have not done so already, go back and read part 1).To continue our car shopping analogy, we are now ready to go kick some tires, and ...

So you’ve been hearing all about the recent EHR buzz and decided to give it a try.Whether you are convinced that electronic records are the way to go, or you have reached a point where you are willing to give it a try, the first thing to do is buy one of those EHRs. You may be staring at a glossy brochure or website featuring a distinguished silver-haired doctor ...

One of the most promising uses of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is research.As EHRs become more and more widespread and the clinical data previously held in silos of paper charts becomes fluid, exchangeable and duly collected, large clinical repositories should emerge and be made available to those engaged in research, presumably medical research. The results of such research are expected to help us identify cost effective therapies, health care trends ...

Every day millions of Americans and billions of people around the globe are routinely accepting colorful pieces of paper in return for their labor and placing those hard earned possessions in modern glass buildings whose owners they do not know.It took a few hundred years to change how business transactions are conducted, but today, there is very little apprehension about depositing one’s wealth in a bank. Public trust in both ...

The regulators have completed their work. CMS has defined how you should use technology in your practice or hospital (Meaningful Use) and technical requirements for EHRs have been finalized.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) have removed all ambiguity regarding Government financial assistance to those purchasing EHRs, and ONC certified EHRs will start appearing shortly.A national network of federally funded ...

Recently, yet another alarming Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) study made headlines.According to Healthcare IT News, The Leapfrog Group, a staunch advocate of CPOE, is now sounding the alarm on untested CPOE as their new study "points to jeopardy to patients when using health IT." Up until now we had inconclusive studies pointing to increased and also decreased mortality in one hospital or another following CPOE implementation, but ...

As we move to electronic health records (EHR), the debates over security and privacy are becoming more frequent and more poignant.We of course have HIPAA laws on the books and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has a Tiger team assembled to recommend privacy and security policies to Secretary Sebelius.CIOs and entire IT departments are all focused on protecting the privacy of patients and their Personal ...