Healthcare IT News reported this week that the Veterans Administration is seeking input from industry on the features/functionality necessary to upgrade the scheduling component of the VA VistA EHR. The goal of this RFI is to support VA’s market research in developing a procurement framework that may be used for a subsequent acquisition. More detail…

The Annals of Internal Medicine published two articles and an editorial this week about the desire of patients to have access to (and share access to) a personal health record (PHR) — and have access to and share notes from the clinical record. The first article, entitled, “Patient Interest in Sharing Personal Health Record Information:…

We are very pleased to announce the winner of the draw for an iPad2 in the recent ACR AmericanEHR Partners EHR satisfaction survey. The winner is Dr. Monika Mohan, MD, MPH, who is a Rheumatologist at Advanced Rheumatology in Lansing, MI. In a candid moment, Dr. Mohan and her staff marvel at the functionality of…

Earlier this month, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a Perspective article by Richard Bohmer entitled, “The Four Habits of High-Value Health Care Organizations.” The full text is available online. The premise is that while successful organizations may vary in structure, resources, and culture, there are key similarities in approaches to care management….

The New York Times ran an article this week written by Matt Richtel entitled, “As Doctors Use More Devices, Potential for Distraction Grows.” The concern is that due to the proliferation of computers, smart phones, iPads and other easily accessible technology, physicians and other health care professionals are focused less on the patient in front…

The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) released a new online guide to reduce unintended consequences of EHRs. This is how AHRQ describes this new resource: The Guide to Reducing Unintended Consequences of Electronic Health Records is an online resource designed to help you and your organization anticipate, avoid, and address problems that can…

EHRs are great at collecting, storing, and sorting information in a format that be easily retrieved for later review or analysis. However, some of the most important features in an EHR are those that allow information to flow seamlessly between organizations including hospitals, medical practices, diagnostic facilities, and laboratories. One of the regular frustrations we…

I have been hearing from an increasing number of physicians and practices that they have been turned down by the EHR vendor of their choice or are faced with a long wait time before the vendor can install the system. All of the practices I have heard from were relatively small (under 10 physicians) and…

About a year ago, a frantic doctor called me to discuss what steps he should take. Due to a technical malfunction, his practice had lost all of its medical records. During our conversations it became clear that his seven-doctor practice in rural Colorado had been using an EHR system for the past 10 years, and…

Washington, D.C. — A new non-profit, collaborative effort was launched December 1, 2011, called Doctors Helping Doctors Transform Health Care (Doctors Helping Doctors). The organization’s goal is to support the transformation of health care, initially through greater use of health information technology (IT), which plays a foundational role in improving the quality, safety and efficiency…