The following are important considerations when acquiring a lab interface for your EHR: In many cases the major lab companies will pick up the initial cost of the lab interface with your practice.  However they generally do not pick up the costs of a bi-directional interface(s) and/or the ongoing maintenance cost of the interface.  Most…

One of the most integral elements of clinical practice is the use of laboratory investigations for diagnostic and monitoring purposes. Ask any clinician what they need in an EHR and invariably; integrated laboratory data will top the list of desirable requirements. When laboratory investigations are needed as part of a clinical visit, there are a…

How important is EHR Usability to the overall uptake and use of EHRs by clinicians and their practice teams? This is an often ignored, but critical factor. It is also the most difficult to do well and requires multiple product iterations, the input of usability and human factor experts and more importantly, a very clear…

In a report released earlier this month (October 2010), the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) reported survey results that, “physician adoption and use of e-mail with patients remains uncommon—only 6.7 percent of office-based physicians routinely e-mailed patients in 2008…” This low rate of email utilization occurred despite the availability of the technology in…

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has published two useful documents to support practices of 1-5 physicians and 6-10 physicians in the implementation of EHRs. Success factors are divided into 10 categories: Communication Leadership Education Goal Setting Culture Change Workflow Redesign Training & System Testing Implement with Enthusiasm! Assessment Celebration Information is explained…

What do you need to know about EHR Certification in order to select an EHR that is appropriate for use in your practice? How can you ensure that the system you select will allow you to qualify for Meaningful Use federal incentive payments? Should you select a Complete EHR system or a Modular system? These…