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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OIG to audit Pennsylvania's Medicaid MU program

Following up on its promise to conduct more Meaningful Use (MU) audits, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General plans to audit Pennsylvania's Medicaid program and its MU payments.

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Nurses concerned about patient safety after EHR breakdown

The recent failure of an EHR system at a California hospital has led to registered nurses requesting that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to investigate the disruption that closed the organization's emergency department and created other problems that put patients at risk.

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New workgroup to focus on shift to value-based care delivery

The Electronic Health Record Association has established a workgroup focused on healthcare delivery system reform.

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Change is good?

The Meaningful Use program is in the limelight again with the debate about its success continuing.

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Carolinas Health Systems clinics achieve EMRAM Stage 7

HIMSS Analytics has awarded 230 Carolinas Health System clinics with Stage 7 Ambulatory Awards.

NCPA on government's EHR efforts: 'Expensive, unproductive and potentially harmful'

The federal government has exerted too much control over health IT and needs to step back, according to a commentary written by a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).

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AMA continues push for MU changes

The American Medical Association (AMA) is pleased with the Meaningful Use Stage 2 extension but continues to advocate for more flexibility to keep the program going.

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CIO-of-the-Year Sue Schade: Eight ways to nail an EHR implementation

In naming Sue Schade the 2014 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year, her peers in CHIME bestowed upon her the profession’s highest honor, one that Schade earned the old-fashioned way. She is the veteran of several large EHR implementations since 2000, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she gained national attention for their use of the balanced scorecard, and most recently guiding an EHR implementation at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Center, where she has served as CIO since 2012.

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.