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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48 provider orgs seek MU flexibility, extension

Dozens of industry associations have united to lay out a case for more time and flexibility in the Meaningful Use (MU) program to ensure its success.

HIMSS14: 'Embrace innovative thinking'

ORLANDO--The time demands of federal mandates such as ICD-10 and Meaningful Use “drive my innovation push,” said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, associate CMIO of Northwestern Medicine, delivering the keynote address at the Innovation Symposium at the Health Information and Management Systems Society’s annual meeting.

ONC proposes 2015 CEHRT criteria

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has issued proposals for the 2015 edition of EHR certification criteria.

Calif. nonprofit launches eHealth pilot for older adults

The Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing, a Burbank, Calif.-based nonprofit, is launching a year-long project to leverage health IT to facilitate access to care for underserved and low-income older adults at affordable housing communities, community health clinics and other institutions in a Los Angeles neighborhood.

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Mixed messages

Mixed messages for EHRs this month with Meaningful Use incentive payments increasing but dissatisfaction prevalent.

Top Electronic Health Records Vendors Rated by Client Satisfaction, Black Book Rankings Announce 2014 EHR Leaders for Small, Rural and Critical Access Hospitals

February 17, 2014 -- Black Book Rankings, well known globally for accurate, impartial customer satisfaction surveys in the services and software industries, conducted a sweeping four month user poll to determine the highest ranked electronic health and medical record vendors. As part of a major research focus on current e-Health initiatives, Black Book announced those vendors with the highest scores in client experience in the areas of Certification-Required EHR Functionalities, Administrative & Documentation Functionalities, Clinical Workflow Functionalities, e-Prescribing modules, Accountable Care Organization data needs and Health Information Exchange enterprises were also examined in the sweeping study.

U.K. hospitals unprepared for EHR implementation costs

Hospitals in the United Kingdom don't always take into account the full costs of implementing new EHR systems and should be better prepared if they are to maximize the benefits, according to research published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

House panel ready to study MU abuse

In the wake of an indictment of a hospital executive for false Meaningful Use attestation, the House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to investigate how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awards funds to hospitals that attest to Meaningful Use and what guidelines have been issued to prevent fraud and abuse of the program, the Dallas Morning News' "Watchdog Blog" reports.

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.