Compare EMR put out a thoughtful note regarding the current stimulus incentive dollars: EMR vendors are quickly scooping up Meaningful Use certifications on their systems. They know it’s not optional – it’s mandatory for their survival – so they are ensuring they get certified. This means that the certification is not the key to finding the right system. Obviously, it’s important to review costs when you compare EMR systems. But it is just as important [...]

Meaningful Use is the hottest buzzword in Health IT right now. The PCAST report (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology) provided this summary: Recent Federal legislation has charted a new path forward. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, authorized expenditures of at least $20 billion to promote the adoption and use of EHR technologies that would [...]

When comparing EMR software solutions, keep in mind the need for interconnectivity with outside systems: local hospitals, labs, transcription services, and many other beyond those. It’s crucial that the vendors you are considering can currently accommodate exports and imports via interfaces. You will want to exchange at least demographics, labs, meds, allergies, problems. Beyond these interfaces, a bigger-picture plan is in the works from HHS. They are funding and planning projects to provide data pathways [...]

When you begin the EMR selection process, you will want to be sure your committee has representation for the providers and the staff. You will want to engage individuals that can speak to the organizations needs from a billing, scheduling, workflow, and IT standpoint. Electronic-medical-record.blogspot.com assembled a list with excellent qualifying questions for evaluating EMR software providers. They published this in 2007, but the points are just as relevant today. Use the EMR Software Pro [...]