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…

In a program as complex as that currently underway to encourage adoption of EHRs and Health Information Exchanges in the U.S., extensive planning and open, transparent, honest discussion are crucial to success. As logical as this may sound, it is very difficult to keep large programs moving while providing sufficient flexibility to make the necessary…

We are very pleased to announce the AmericanEHR Partners Clinical Advisory Group for 2010/2011. Clinical Advisory Group Members: Peter Basch, MD, FACP, Medical Director, Ambulatory EHR and Health IT Policy, MedStar Health. Dr. Basch is a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, practices general internal medicine in Washington, DC and is an early…

A very interesting concept is that of modular EHR technology. Earlier this year, ONC awarded four Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Project (SHARP) grants. A Boston based research group was one of the successful recipients. A blog excerpt is provided below describing how the modular EHRs could work. Kibbe & Klepper – Oct 5, 2010…

The first EHR products certified for Meaningful Use under the ONC-ATCB certification process for 2011/2012 were announced October 3, 2010. Products were announced by the Drummond Group and CCHIT. Each certification body announced products that had achieved full certification and modular certification. The Drummond Group has certified one complete and 2 EHR modules, while the…