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. 

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Elderly physician leaves Amita Health after refusing to learn new EMR system

Jeffrey Johnson, MD, a 75- year-old physician, and Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center have parted ways after Johnson refused to take educational courses on the hospital's new electronic medical record (EMR) system.

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50% of physicians are satisfied with access to patient information

Only 50 percent of physicians are very or extremely satisfied with their access to patient information, according to a survey conducted by Surescripts.

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Quality improvement program reduces EHR alerts, saves clinicians 1.5 hours a week

A quality improvement program designed to reduce low-value electronic health record (EHR) notifications led to a 1.5-hour reduction in work for primary care physicians, according to a study published in BMJ Quality & Safety.

Implementation of EHR not linked to outcomes for heart failure patients

A hospital’s degree of electronic health record (EHR) implementation was not associated with improved outcomes in heart failure patients, according to a study published March 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Improving EHRs to reduce burnout

Although electronic health records (EHRs) were designed to improve care and streamline data sharing, rates of burnout have increased as EHR-related tasks produced are placed on physicians' shoulders. An article by Harvard Business Journal examines which improvement to EHRs could have the biggest impact in reducing burnout.

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Inappropriately overriding EHR alerts leads to a 6-fold increase in adverse drug events

Inappropriately overriding clinical decision support (CDS) in electronic health records (EHRs) was linked to a six-fold increase in adverse drug events (ADEs), according to a study published Feb. 9 in BMJ Quality and Safety.

Issues in EHR usability contribute to patient harm

Issues with usability of electronic health record (EHR) and a lack of proper clinical processes have been linked to patient harm, according to a study published on March 27 in JAMA.

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Cerner most popular EHR, Epic most requested among Medicare program

Medicare EHR Incentive Program hospitals were slightly more likely to have utilized Cerner’s electronic health record (EHR) modules, while clinicians strongly favored Epic, according to a report released in March 2018 from HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

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.