EMR & EHR Resources for your Practice
Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), or more broadly, Electronic Health Records
(EHRs), are changing the practice of medicine; and the technology is constantly
evolving.
As we are all very aware in our day-to-day practice of medicine, regardless of
the practice setting, creating a record of every patient interaction is time
consuming and the value of the record depends on one’s ability to efficiently
capture and record a large amount of detailed information for every patient
interaction with any level of healthcare service.
The health information technology (HIT) that includes EMRs and EHRs, can
enhance your ability to create a more detailed story about the care you provide
to your patients. With the advent of
interoperability between EHR systems, HIT will improve your access to patient
information, can provide decision support and reference data, as well as
decrease the likelihood of errors and improve patient-clinician communications.
The EHR can also serve as one of the important tools in addressing quality of
care and cost/time issues in your practice.
However, effective implementation involves more than just purchasing and
installing an EHR. You will want to
make sure you have adequately assessed all the systems that are available and
meet certain national standards (CCHIT certified) and that you and your staff
feel comfortable using. Of course,
you also must feel that the resources you have expended in the adoption and
implementation of an EHR will provide some value in return for your investment.
All these questions, and others you may not have thought of, and various
answers and possible solutions, are available in the links below.
The DCMS Health Information Technology committee hope to be able to
provide you with the most up-to-date resources to assist you in evaluating EHR
technology and help you determine what will serve you and your practice best,
now and in the future.
Health Information Technology Symposium materials
Presentation materials (PowerPoint files) from the
December 10, 2008 HIT Symposium sponsored by the DCMS
are available
here. Links to the participating EMR
exhibitors are available
here.
Websites of interest
EMR Florida - A project of the Florida Medical
Foundation
HIT Resources from the American Medical Association
including self-assessment tools, vendor assessment
tools, and information on financing options
AMA ePrescribing Learning Center
Center for HIT at the American Academy of Family
Physicians - extensive resources for primary care
physicians
CCHIT -
Certification Commission for Health Information
Technology website
Additional Resources
Resources from
HIMSS (the
Healthcare Information Management Systems Society)
15 Questions to ask before signing an
electronic medical record or electronic health record
agreement (PDF) - from the AMA
Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care - A
National Survey of Physicians - a NEJM article
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