The following comment was submitted by a physician because of his inability to interpret his own notes a few weeks after entering encounter information into his EHR. His experience questions the value of discrete data (such as pick lists, radio buttons, numeric values or predefined descriptions) vs. free text or narrative notes. ‘All of the…

Clinical Decision Support Systems (or CDSSs) are increasingly available through Electronic Health Records and include reminders, alerts, drug interaction checking and dose calculation systems as well as chronic disease reporting dashboards. Despite the pervasiveness of CDSSs, there is limited evidence regarding the ability of these systems to improve care and reduce costs. A systematic review…

The rapid transition to EHR and the integration of information technology in the delivery of patient care has had a transformational impact on medical offices and hospitals. There are many positive effects of the technology, including rapid access to laboratory information, diagnostic reports, and medication histories. However, there is also a potential dark side to…

Due to the interactive and real-time nature of an EHR, clinicians have a number of powerful tools at their fingertips that can be used to provide clinical guidance to patients and encourage healthy changes in behavior. With the advent of patient portals, personal health records, and mobile apps, there are now a number of additional…

Productivity can be defined as “the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services” (Dictionary.com). In a medical office, productivity refers to the number of patients seen and managed during the course of a defined period of work. The implementation of an EHR results in an…

During December 2011, AmericanEHR Partners, in conjunction with the American College of Surgeons (ACS), conducted a survey of ACS members regarding their use of EHR systems and their satisfaction levels with a wide range of EHRs. A common theme emerged. While surgeons see benefits, the systems they were being required to use were generally designed…