EMR/EHR

Electronic medical records (EMR) are a digital version of a patient’s chart that store their personal information, medical history and links to prior exams, texts and reports. The goal of these systems is to enable immediate access to the patient's data electronically, rather than needing to request paper file folders that might be stored in fragment files at numerous locations where a patient is seen or treated. EMRs (also called electronic health records, or EHR) improve clinician and health system efficiency by making all this data immediately available. This helps reduce repeat tests, repeat prescriptions and repeat imaging exams because reports, imaging or other patient data is not not immediately available. 

PHRs improve patients' adherence to preventive services guidelines

Integrated PHRs and EHRs are helping patients manage their health and providers manage their patient populations at several Virginia primary care practices, according to a case study published Dec. 5 on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Innovation Exchange website.

Interactive CDS correlates with improved outcomes in HIV patients

Integrating non-invasive, interactive clinical decision support (CDS) alerts into the EHRs of HIV patients correlated with improved health outcomes, according to research published Dec. 4 by the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Nov. 30 deadline to attest for MU FY 2012 looms

Hospitals seeking to receive a Medicare EHR Incentive Program payment for fiscal year 2012 have until Nov. 30 to complete their online registration and attestation through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) website.

Survey: Only 3% of pediatricians use EHRs with specialty-specific features

Pediatricians lag behind others in EHR adoption, according to a study published Nov. 19 by Pediatrics.

EHRs provide good ROI, even in low-income settings

Implementing an EHR provides a good return on investment for hospitals in low-income areas, according to a case study published in the <i>Journal of the American Medical Information Association.</i>

AMA updates policies on ICD-10, EHR incentive program

During its 2012 Interim Meeting held in Honolulu, Nov. 10-13, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates covered several health IT topics, including ICD-10 and the EHR incentive program.

AHIMA, Delta Authority team up to expand EHR adoption

The Delta Regional Authority and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) have launched a pilot program to expedite EHR adoption in the Delta region by initiating a revolving micro-loan program.

Weekly roundup: Meaningful Use gets day on Capitol Hill

Meaningful Use is in the spotlight this week with a Congressional hearing regarding its success, the latest numbers of those who have registered for and received incentive payments from the EHR incentive program and a first look at Stage 3.

Around the web

U.S. health systems are increasingly leveraging digital health to conduct their operations, but how health systems are using digital health in their strategies can vary widely.

When human counselors are unavailable to provide work-based wellness coaching, robots can substitute—as long as the workers are comfortable with emerging technologies and the machines aren’t overly humanlike.

A vendor that supplies EHR software to public health agencies is partnering with a health-tech startup in the cloud-communications space to equip state and local governments for managing their response to the COVID-19 crisis.