Health Care Trends and EHR Systems

The EHR and HIS markets have boomed over the past five years, and a clear winner is Epic of Wisconsin. The owner is now reportedly a billionaire, and the company continues to win hospitals across the nation away from their top competitors.

There’s no sign that their growth is slowing soon. Even while HIS adaption may slow, Epic still has many hospitals to win away from competitors, and many mechanisms to do this. One of the major selling points is an integrated system that works across the outpatient clinics and inpatient hospital departments. While they don’t have every module perfect or ideal, they have become the safe choice for hospital systems looking to carefully move to an integrated system. While the database technology is ancient by IT standards, it continues to be the choice for hospitals that can afford it. Affordability is a key concern; hospitals have frequently ran into cost increases during the Epic implementation. The health care system purchasing Epic has to be prepared for a cost that will run far above the initial investment. The leading HIPAA SRA provider for Epic systems is Medcurity.

Leading competitors are looking for niches that they can win and protect against Epic. This would most apparently be the small hospital market, where Epic will not allow them to purchase their software through the vendor. Instead, these hospitals can be purchase through area health systems that are larger and would then operate the environment and offer it’s use out to the small hospital. This isn’t always appealing, as many small facilities may prefer to keep some control of their system, and not align so closely with a system that may even be a competitor. Compare other EHR systems below.



Health IT Overview and EMR Evaluation

EHR Overview

What are the best systems out there for Electronic Health Record management? There are over 500 systems out there now, which can make for a very interesting evaluation process. However, when you look at quality scores and interoperability (how well the system exchanges data with other systems) the list will narrow. KLAS is a reputable organization that provides survey results for comprehensive comparison of the systems on the market.

Getting Started

Start evaluating the leading vendors. Ask questions about support, implementation, updates, Meaningful Use compliance. Are they close on Stage 2 compliance? Are they ready for ICD-10? You want to be sure to sign up with a company that is keeping up with the rapidly changing requirements of the health care industry. Certifications for these requirements are a must for any vendors you consider.

Be very inquistive during the demos. Ask to see ePrescribing and ordering of labs. Many systems require middleware for these operations, but many others don’t, so if this is important to you, don’t setting for a system that doesn’t have all the capabilities you need built in. Ask to see the reporting – do they have capable MU dashboards? Do they have a patient portal that can be customized to match the clinic’s branding? Is secure messaging built in so the doc doesn’t have to leave the EHR to communicate with patients and other providers electronically?

In Summary

Evaluation is critical and you don’t want to be one of the many clinics that are now shopping for replacement systems, because they made the wrong first selection. It’s too expensive and painful to going through the selection and implementation twice! Again, support and implementation services are critical. Talk to customers and get the real scoop on how these projects were handled, and how support works currently. You are now on track to picking the best system for your organization’s needs.

Good luck to you! Start here:



Meaningful Use Changes in Stage 2 – New EHR Software Requirements

MU Stage 2

Health care organizations and providers are faced with a crowded marketplace of over 500 vendors offering electronic medical records. We provide a simple, powerful online EMR software comparison tool, which helps you determine the best electronic medical records system for your specific needs.

Answer a few questions here now and save a lot of research time in the future. Learn about features, implementation, and pricing for EMR systems that best match your needs.

First, tell us about your organization. Answer these questions and click “Continue” below:


Complete the form above to be matched to the top vendors that can meet your specific needs. It’s a free service from EMR Software Pro.
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Meaningful Use Stage 2 – Further EHR Capabilities and Analysis

Initial analysis of the first few objectives can be found in this article.

80% of patient have blood pressure, height & weight recorded as structured data.

The recent changes to Meaningful Use Stage 1 require that blood pressure is recorded for patients 3 years old and older, and height and weight for all patients.

This is more of a stretch than the demographics requirement, but is again reasonable and attainable objective for the second stage of the MU initiative.

80% patient over 13 have smoking status recorded as structured data.

This is fairly straightforward, and as it’s required (at a lower threshhold) in stage 1, most EHRs wil have their reporting configured to be able to accurately capture this, and providers are likely collecting this already on many. 80% is a higher metric, but we see this objective as low hanging fruit, provided the forms and templates are accurately capturing this and reports are configured appropriately to show this.

Implement five Clinical Decision Support rules. Enable and Implement drug to drug and drug to allergy checks.

Now, we’re stepping up the requirements. Depending on the quality reporting your organization is submitting, you may not be reporting on compliance with these Clinical Decision Support rules, but at this stage they do need to be implemented to meet the objective. It is ideal to get a good idea of how these function and how they are build and adjusted, during the EMR evaluation process.

We envision CMS stepping up this requirement to a compliance level in Stage 3, but we’ll see what comes of this.

Drug/drug and drug/allergy checks are a logical feature to utilize once an EHR is deployed, and should be utilized for patient safety.

We will be posting further analysis shortly, including additional objective changes that will impact your organization.

Compare EHR software systems that match your needs, get free quotes, and learn who serves your area. Complete the free form from EMR Software Pro above.


Meaningful Use Stage 2 Overview and EMR Selection

MU Stage 2

This site is free to health care staff and providers evaluating systems for electronic medical records. We provide a simple, powerful online EMR software comparison tool, which helps you determine the best electronic medical records system for your specific needs.

Answer a few questions here now and save a lot of research time in the future. Learn about features, implementation, and pricing for EMR systems that best match your needs.

First, tell us about your organization. Answer these questions and click “Continue” below:



Complete the form above to be matched to the top vendors that can meet your specific needs. It’s a free service from EMR Software Pro.
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Meaningful Use Stage 2 Overview and EHR Selection

As expected, EMR software usage will need to be stepped up and functionality will need to be added. We encouraged a detailed review of the full Meaningful Use requirements, but you do have until 2014 to stage 2, so if your organization is consumed with Stage 1 at this time, the below highlights will give you sneak peek at what’s coming next.

EMR vendors will be required to get re-certifed as Meaningful Use Certified EHRs, due to some of these changes. The majority of the adjustments are simply increased thresholds applied to the Stage 1 objectives.

Your team will need to consider the current and future objectives your selection process when evaluating options for electronic medical records.
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60% of medication, lab, and radiology orders created by the eligible provider are now required to be recorded in the electronic medical record, using computerized physician order entry.

EMR Orders

This can be a major workflow change, and there are different schools of thought as to whether this should be implemented at time of the EHR implementation, or if this is more appropriate as a later phase to the implementation.

Entering orders electronically means that when results are returned by interface, they can often be linked automatically to the order that was placed. This is an important functionality aspect to review when comparing EMR software systems. Also, it is ideal to be able to submit the order and enter all the notes regarding the order, directly into the EMR if possible, instead of via a third party tool.

If you’re going to plan on this for your EMR implementation, you might as well take the next steps and initiate plans to be able to send those orders electronically to the receiving facility. The major labs, i.e. Quest and many others, are now able to receive orders electronically. With the outbound orders to the lab, and then incoming results returning to the EHR system, you will have eliminated a paper-intensive process.
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65% scripts are compared to at least one drug formulary and transmitted electronically.

EHR Prescription

This is an increase, but certainly fits in the direction that we have seen the CMS pressing. Most EHRs have this functionality, but again, you may want to determine whether this is accomplished through a 3rd party add on application, or if the system itself can handle eRx submission to SureScripts, etc.

One frustrating aspect of this is that providers are often in a position of prescribing to the pharmacy requesting by the patient, even when that pharmacy has not established the ability to received perscriptions electronically yet. We would expect pressure in the medical community to change this.
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80% patients have demographics recorded as structured data in the EMR.

Patient Demographics

This requirement is somewhat a no-brainer, and there are few EMRs remaining on the market that don’t offer this as a given. When the PM is integrated into the EMR, or independent, this can be eaily accomplished. Quality reporting, patient letters, and much more is dependent on structured demographic data.

Further analysis is underway and will be posted shortly.

 


EMR Software Overview – Greenway EMR, McKesson Practice Partner EMR, e-MDs EMR, Centricity EMR

EMR
RESEARCH
TOOL

This site is free to health care staff and providers. We provide a simple, powerful online EMR software comparison tool, which helps you determine the best electronic medical records system for your specific needs.

Answer a few questions here now and save a lot of research time in the future. Learn about features, implementation, and pricing for EMR systems that best match your needs.

First, tell us about your organization. Answer these questions and click “Continue” below:



One of our most popular articles features an overview of several EMR software vendors. These EMR systems range from up & coming to tried & true. We focus below on the vendors’ summary of their ambulatory solutions, but each provides inpatient systems as well. Learn more below, and complete our form to get matched to the best EMR software options for your hospital or clinic.

Complete the form above to be matched to the top vendors that can meet your specific needs. It’s a free service from EMR Software Pro.

Greenway EMR Software

PrimeSUITE®, Greenway’s fully integrated EHR, practice management and interoperability solution, improves care, reduces errors and simplifies business processes. PrimeSUITE integrates all clinical, financial and administrative data in a single database to promote information sharing and ensure quick adoption through simple, intuitive tools that optimize daily processes. Designed by Greenway’s team of physicians, clinicians, practice administrators, hospital executives, community leaders and healthcare stakeholders dedicated to using technology to improve healthcare, PrimeSUITE can be customized to adapt to your existing workflow.

PrimeSUITE is a single integrated database with electronic health record, practice management and interoperability functionality. PrimeSUITE is comprised of EHR functionality including a patient chart, numerous clinical tools and content management pages, as well as practice management functionality with accounts receivable, registration, scheduling and reporting components.

 

McKesson Practice Partner EMR Software

Practice Partner® Patient Records is an award-winning electronic medical record system that provides a host of innovative tools to improve both office and clinical efficiency while helping to improve quality of care. Our electronic medical record software allows practices to replace their paper charts with a comprehensive feature set utilized nationwide by medical offices of all sizes and specialties
Benefits:

Improves documentation quality (legible, organized, complete)
Facilitates better patient communication
Accommodates different physician styles through flexible progress note templates
Improves medication management
Enhances efficiency of signing of charts

Features:

Bright Note Technology™
Choice of data entry methods
Single-screen progress note entry saves clicks and eliminates “jumping around”
Prescription writing, faxing and drug interaction/allergy checking
Built-in protocols and reminders (including health maintenance)

 

e-MDs EMR Software

e-MDs Solution Series is the standard for affordable and integrated EHR / EMR & PRACTICE MANAGEMENT software solutions.

Designed by physicians to improve care, reduce errors and simplify business so that time spent with patients is quality time automatically billed and coded properly. Visit, code and bill with a single application.

 

Centricity EMR Software

Centricity EMR (formerly Logician®) is an electronic medical record (EMR) system that enables ambulatory care physicians and clinical staff to document patient encounters, streamline clinical workflow, and securely exchange clinical data with other providers, patients, and information systems.

Centricity EMR is used by thousands of physicians to manage millions of patient records; making it the most widely used ambulatory care electronic medical record. Centricity EMR empowers healthcare providers to deliver the highest quality of care at lower costs.

Learn about Epic EMR, eClinicalWorks EMR, AllScripts EMR, and NextGen EMR software here.

Compare EMR systems that match your needs, get free quotes, and learn who serves your area. Complete the free form from EMR Software Pro below.



Greenway EMR Software

From Greenway Medical, here is an overview of their PrimeSuite EMR Software:

PrimeSUITE®, Greenway’s fully integrated EHR, practice management and interoperability solution, improves care, reduces errors and simplifies business processes. PrimeSUITE integrates all clinical, financial and administrative data in a single database to promote information sharing and ensure quick adoption through simple, intuitive tools that optimize daily processes. Designed by Greenway’s team of physicians, clinicians, practice administrators, hospital executives, community leaders and healthcare stakeholders dedicated to using technology to improve healthcare, PrimeSUITE can be customized to adapt to your existing workflow.

PrimeSUITE is a single integrated database with electronic health record, practice management and interoperability functionality. PrimeSUITE is comprised of EHR functionality including a patient chart, numerous clinical tools and content management pages, as well as practice management functionality with accounts receivable, registration, scheduling and reporting components.




EMR Software Reviews – Epic EMR, eClinicalWorks EMR, AllScripts EMR, NextGen EMR

EMR
RESEARCH
TOOL

This site is free to health care staff and providers. We provide a simple, powerful online EMR software comparison tool, which helps you determine the best electronic medical records system for your specific needs.

Answer a few questions here now and save a lot of research time in the future. Learn about features, implementation, and pricing for EMR systems that best match your needs.

First, tell us about your organization. Answer these questions and click “Continue” below:

Four leading EMR software vendors are attracting attention even from customers with current EMR systems. A recent report indicates that a third of current users of electronic medical records are looking to replace their systems, and Epic, NextGen, eClinicalWorks, and AllScripts are the most frequently considered EMR applications.

Here is high level overview of each EMR company. We focus below on the vendors’ summary of their ambulatory solutions, but each provides inpatient systems as well.

Complete the form above to be matched to the top vendors that can meet your specific needs. It’s a free service from EMR Software Pro.

AllScripts EMR Software

Intuitive: Allscripts Professional EHR thinks the way you do. Its intuitive design mimics practice workflow, while its simple and flexible navigation mirrors a physician’s thinking process. And with anytime/anywhere access to information via Allscripts Remote on your iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry or Android smartphone, Professional EHR puts you back in control of your day.

Affordable: Allscripts Professional is the EHR that pays you back: There’s never been a better time to implement this Stimulus-ready EHR. Flexible financing options—including zero payments for the first six months—and a proven return on investment make Allscripts Professional the clear choice.

Connected: Allscripts Professional keeps your practice connected to over 50,000 pharmacies, more labs than any other vendor, virtually every payer, and most importantly, connected to patients through the Allscripts Patient Portal.

Complete: With comprehensive EHR and Practice Management/Claims Processing Solutions bundled into one, Allscripts Professional is everything you need in an EHR solution. Plus, with hundreds of pre-loaded templates in more than 20 specialties, no matter what your specialty Allscripts Professional EHR has you covered.

With over 180,000 physicians using our solutions, Allscripts is the safe choice and the industry leader. There’s no reason to wait any longer.

Epic EMR Software


The EpicCare EMR is rated #1 in its category by KLAS Enterprises – and has been for the last 10 years straight. The system makes physicians more productive by simplifying the important patient-facing elements of care delivery.

EpicCare is a physician-friendly system in use by providers representing more than 100 specialties. It installs easily with our pre-built Model System and configures to meet specific workflow requirements. Instead of starting from scratch, Epic customers build on the content from successful customers – including decision support, order sets, reports and documentation tools. The result is a faster path to effective chronic care management and measurable quality gains.

eClinicalWorks EMR Software


Featured Advantages:
* Improved workflow – Unified with the eClinicalWorks Practice Management system, patient flow from check-in to departure is streamlined. Workflow from the front desk to physicians to billing office staff is seamless. Documentation is faster using templates, drop-down lists, and more
* Customizable – Many features within the EMR software can be configured on a per provider basis. This means eClinicalWorks will accommodate to how the providers like to work; not the other way around
* Access clinical content – All of your practice data is at your fingertips, whether you’re in the office, an exam room, or at home. Manage medications, access labs and test results, clinical decision support, and patient education materials are just some of the crucial types of information available in an instant. Provided are the tools needed for healthcare quality measures and patient disease management using built-in Registry and Quality Measure Reporting
* Communication – eClinicalWorks EMR makes it easy to send and receive information – whether it’s an alert to a colleague down the hall, a referral to a specialist across town, or an exchange of data with a hospital in another state. Electronic prescribing is also available
* Unification – The EMR is just one part of the eClinicalWorks Comprehensive Electronic Health Record Solution. All products were developed by one company and will function as one powerful system.
* ARRA Meaningful Use – eClinicalWorks provides all of the features needed for qualifying practices to receive Meaningful Use reimbursement

NextGen EMR Software


Why NextGen: Our award-winning, 2011 CCHIT certified NextGen Ambulatory EHR offers unique features that set us apart from other systems:
* Pre-built clinical templates and workflow for over 26 specialties ensure complete, accurate documentation stored in a standard format.
* Disease management templates capture discrete data at the point of care to meet clinical reporting guidelines for pay-for-performance programs.
* ePrescribing that automatically checks prescriptions against a patient’s medications and allergies.
* Integration with the NextGen product suite to enable consistent, real-time clinical and administrative workflow among providers, hospitals, and patients.

Compare EMR systems that match your needs, get free quotes, and learn who serves your area. Complete the free form from EMR Software Pro below.

McKesson Practice Partner EMR

From McKesson, here is an overview of their Practice Partner EHR Software:

Practice Partner is a certified* electronic health record (EHR) and medical billing software solution that empowers physicians to enhance the quality of care and increase bottom-line productivity.

Practice Partner is ideal for independent medical practices that want a sophisticated, easy to install and simple to use solution. The Practice Partner system brings together all of the essential elements necessary to run a modern practice.

A core part of the Practice Partner solution is Bright Note Technology™ – the dynamic processing power that utilizes single-note synchronization to instantaneously populate patient data across the entire chart. Searchable patient data is then automatically generated. The result is improved use, greater efficiency and enhanced clinical reporting and health outcomes.




McKesson Medisoft EHR

From McKesson, here is a summary of their Medisoft EHR software:

With the latest Medisoft release, McKesson offers Medisoft Clinical, a complete electronic health record/practice management system that works seamlessly to minimize practice disruption.

Medisoft Clinical combines the practice management features of Medisoft v17 with a fully functional electronic health record (EHR) at a price point geared to smaller physician practices like yours. With Medisoft Clinical, you get the latest in practice automation without a lot of hassle and at a price you can afford.

Experience the best of both worlds with a combined EHR/PM solution that enables your office to easily perform important tasks like:

* Sharing demographic information to eliminate redundant data entry
* Automatically informing the nurse in the exam room area when a patient is ready for his/her appointment to save staff time
* Creating an electronic encounter form that is automatically populated with ICD-9 and CPT-4 codes based on the provider’s SOAP notes

Maximize efficiency
Unlike other EHRs, Medisoft Clinical features Bright Note Technology™ design that allows physicians to complete the entire chart from a single progress note. Any information you add to the note — such as medications, vital sign results or lab results — automatically update the entire chart, all from the note.

Documentation tools adapt to the providers’ style and offer a choice of data entry methods including:

* templates
* speech recognition
* transcription
* digital pen
* dictation
* Web-based patient data entry

A provider dashboard lets you view all critical information — including messages, incoming results and a daily patient schedule — in one place. In addition, a review bin provides at-a-glance viewing of notes, documents and lab results.

Physicians also are able to quickly see overdue orders and track each order by patient, status and expected time for a result to return. In addition, incoming results automatically update order status.

Enhance quality

Medisoft Clinical offers easy access to the information you need to ensure exceptional care. An extensive knowledge base includes:

* Web-based access to hundreds of disease and medication protocols
* a broad range of progress note templates covering both primary care and specialty topics
* guidelines for diagnosis and treatment
* health maintenance protocols based on age, sex, disease, medications or other conditions specific to the patient

Ensure safety
Electronic prescribing (via SureScripts®) improves patient safety and speeds new prescription and refill workflow. Physicians and other providers use thousands of prescription templates and a comprehensive database of drug costs and checks — drug interaction, drug/allergy, drug/disease, drug/diagnosis — in addition to proactive dose advice.

Physician tools

* Analyze the note with a sophisticated coding advisor for Evaluation and Management (E&M) codes using both the 1995 and 1997 CMS Documentation Guidelines to optimize coding based on documentation.
* Load transcribed text and populate the entire patient chart including the problem list, medication list, medical histories and vital signs. Partially dictate a visit and have the transcribed text automatically go to the correct place in the note.
* Import and export chart summary data using CCD or CCR formats. Communicate with other practices’ EMRs or with the patient’s personal health record (PHR).
* When importing data, choose which chart sections to update while still keeping an entire copy of the imported document.
* Customize chart viewing by physician to allow provider (and specialty) specific views for charts, chart summaries and flow charts.




Amazing Charts EMR Software

From Amazing Charts, here is a summary of their EMR offering:

Amazing Charts is an ONC-ATCB 2011-2012 Certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that allows complete documentation of the medical encounter in a fast, efficient, and straight-forward manner.

The EHR Rated #1 for Usability and Affordability

The award winning Amazing Charts EHR sets the standard for usability and affordability. Our solution has everything you need to run your practice, including charting, scheduling, intra-office messaging, prescribing, and much more.

Rated the #1 EHR in multiple studies, free to try for three months, and priced at $1,995 per provider (which includes ePrescribing, all our updates, and even our highly-rated Guardian Angel Technical Support), Amazing Charts is not only the obvious choice, it is the only choice.

Designed by physicians for physicians, Amazing Charts is continually updated to incorporate suggestions submitted by thousands of users around the country. But don’t take it from us, listen to what actual users have to say.

Amazingly Easy To Use

Most EHRs are overwhelmingly complex and ludicrously priced. These vendors require you to purchase servers, set up intricate networks, and spend hours upon hours of training just to re-teach you and your staff how to document a note the way their programmers believe is correct.

Amazing Charts is completely different. We understand that you have spent years learning how to document encounters and already know how best to run your practice. We don’t require long-term commitments or contracts you can’t get out of (all our terms are clearly outlined here).
Amazing Charts is designed by our users for our users.

Recommendations and suggestions are easily uploaded from within the program and are focused on adding the features and functionality to make your practice easier.

Fill out the form below to compare EMR vendors that can meet your organization’s needs.