MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'ehr vendors'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:55:16 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062332&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F13%2Findependent-thinking-of-doctors-limits-ehr-vendor-consolidation%2F I’m not sure all the details of why this is the case (but I’m sure some will tell me why in the comments), but doctors are some of the most independent thinkers that I know. I’m not saying whether this is a good or a bad thing. It’s just an observation based on thousands of interactions with doctors from all specialties. This independence is shown in a plethora of areas from charting to treating to diagnosing to the business of medicine. Turns out, this independence is part of why I’ve heard doctors say hundreds of times that they basically want their own EHR and not a mainstream one. Doctors want an EHR that fits their unique practice style. Thus they have an expectation that whatever EHR they choose should understand that each doctor is different and natural... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062332 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:08:26 +0100 5062332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997645&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FcStNIo4rV5g%2F I hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful Fourth of July. I know I’ve had a great day so far and we’re gearing up to head to KFC and enjoy some fireworks with friends. Should be a great evening if the kids don’t get too cranky along the way. It has been a great day for me to remember how lucky I am to live in this wonderful country. There are plenty of things that are messed up in this country, but over all the freedoms we enjoy and benefits of living in America far outweigh the down sides. As I typed in the title of this post, I wondered what other things do I wish had their freedom when it came to the EMR world. First thing that came to mind was data independence. How beautiful would it be if our healthcare data was independent. I’m sure the ePatients out t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997645 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:04:08 +0100 4997645 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953044&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FfDeOPTZnEYY%2F #bbpBox_82695997494530048 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0000ff; }#bbpBox_82695997494530048 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Looks like Estonia is the new model for system wide EHR http://bit.ly/liYLwe June 19, 2011 11:27 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite @boltyboy Matthew Holt I’m always fascinated by other countries EHR implementations. So many other countries are interesting to consider since they’re missing so many of the barriers that make EHR adoption and even more specifically health information exchange between EHR software so difficult. Nice to learn more about the success that Estonia has had adopting EHR software. I’d like to learn a lot more about what’s being done with international EHR implementations. #bbpBox_82462900882644992 a { t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953044 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:02:57 +0100 4953044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953050&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FMzBp8c6lN5A%2F What happened in the M&A arena had interesting ramifications, but what didn’t happen might be equally significant: The overcrowded electronic health records market didn’t consolidate. Well over 200 EHR vendors are fighting for meaningful use business. How crowded is the field? As of mid-April, the federal government lists 393 Complete or Modular certified ambulatory EHR products, along with 182 certified inpatient Complete or Modular products. There were several good reasons for the non-event, but consolidation’s got to come soon, says Rob Tholemeier, senior research analyst at Crosstree Capital Partners, a Tampa-based corporate financial advisory firm. “There has never in the history of software been 200-plus companies selling similar functionality,” he ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953050 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:17:31 +0100 4953050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664296&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F9mYSIqNjebw%2F It seems like EMR innovation has been a strong theme on EMR and HIPAA ever since I wrote about the lack of EHR innovation at HIMSS. I of course clarified my original post with this post on the future of MER and EMR innovation and then wrote about the challenge that doctors have to differentiate EHR software amidst all the noise. I also think it’s worth noting that EMR software can be a tremendous innovation for a practice that is using paper charts. I just don’t see an EMR software that is the must go to EMR system. There’s no “iPad” of EMR software (yet?). After careful consideration of these ideas, I can’t help but wonder if an EMR that provides innovation in healthcare is the innovation that will have an “iPad-onian” moment. Basically the... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664296 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:55:18 +0100 4664296 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642730&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F03%2F23%2Frising-above-the-ehr-and-meaningful-use-noise%2F There’s some really good comments happening on my previous post about EMR companies with an “In” with doctors. Check it out and join in with your thoughts. One of the comments reminded me of another interesting issue with all of these EMR vendors trying to vie for your attention. How does an EMR system rise above all the noise? Or if you prefer the doctor perspective, how can a doctor notice the really innovative and useful EMR companies amidst all the noise? This is a serious problem and sadly I don’t know a very good answer. I talked with one company who was considering going into the EMR field and they said, “We know we can create a great product that works better than those that are present. Although, if we do, will anyone even notice.” It’s a ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642730 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:44:19 +0100 4642730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522168&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FyJSNiV9YCq8%2F It’s going to take a couple weeks to really process all that I saw and heard at HIMSS 2011. In fact, there’s no doubt that much of the content I publish over the next month or two will be things I learned from the people I learned from at HIMSS or influenced by what I saw and heard. However, after a good night’s sleep in my own bed I’m really happy with my experience at HIMSS. The energy and passion for healthcare IT that was found at HIMSS was really powerful and wonderful to be apart of. I think those people out there that are asking if we’re in a healthcare IT bubble right now are on the mark. There’s very little doubt in my mind that we’re in a healthcare IT bubble. It’s a feature of $36+ billion in EHR incentive money being given out by ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522168 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:17:05 +0100 4522168 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517225&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FOtL0fB14zuo%2F Turns out that my previous post about lack of EMR innovation at HIMSS was a little more controversial than I expected it to be. Plus, I’m not sure that I communicated the entire message about EMR innovation and the future of EMR software in healthcare (I’m blaming the late nights and lack of sleep). I’m still suffering the HIMSS hangover and on this too small to type well netbook, but let me try and add some more context to the previous post. One person emailed me about my “disappointment with EMR software.” I’d be careful to characterize it as disappointment with the EMR industry. I’m really optimistic about the future of EMR. I still think they’re a great value proposition and that EVERY (leave a few rural settings aside) doctor should and ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517225 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:04:21 +0100 4517225 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517226&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FlSgrbbfh6cY%2F One of the most disappointing parts of HIMSS for me is that the really creative and disruptive innovations are missing from HIMSS. There are a few items I saw like the Shareable Ink technology, some of the Nuance NLP/voice recognition work, and a pretty cool biometric kiosk by Fujitsu (which I’ll blog about later). Sadly I wasn’t seeing the really creative innovation coming from the EMR companies (and I talked to a lot of them) at HIMSS. I think there’s two possible things at play in this regard. First, meaningful use is probably largely to blame for much of the lack of innovation that I saw. As someone told me, the regulation of EHR software has damaged and deterred the innovation. I guess you could say I’ve seen some interesting and innovative ways to approach mea... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517226 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:53:45 +0100 4517226 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4507388&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fdrgkja0ersI%2F As many of you know, EMR and HIPAA is a big time news company. We have a really fat budget and pay our reporters huge amounts of money to sit and smoke cigars while producing very little content of value. One of our biggest expenses here at HIMSS is in our investigative reporting department. Our motto is that if someone else breaks a story before us, then we spend the money to break them. Yes, we’re very serious about spending outrageous money breaking stories that no one else can break. After 3 years of investigation (and no government stimulus money), we’ve finally cracked the code on who’s behind the famous (and hilarious) Extormity EHR software. They’ve been very good about concealing their identity before their big HIMSS press conference in 312C, West Building.... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4507388 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:46:10 +0100 4507388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4507390&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FarM4RGb1n4M%2F Neil already broke the news a few weeks ago that the MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) changed its name to the CDIA (Clinical Documentation Industry Association). I was able to attend the press event that they held to officially announce the change. I’m sure that many might not think this is such a big deal. Ok, the name change isn’t that big of a deal. However, I’d say that this part of the movement that I’ve been talking about for quite a while. Basically the survival of transcription for the forseeable future. I don’t think I talked to any transcription companies at the event that weren’t working on some sort of EMR tied to transcription strategy (MD-IT, FutureNet, and MxSecure to just name a few). In many cases they’re doing the... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4507390 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:16:54 +0100 4507390 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4318394&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F01%2F05%2Fpermanent-ehr-certification-program%2F Looks like the people at HHS and ONC have been working hard. On Monday this week they published the Permanent EHR Certification Program Final rule. You can find the press release about the Permanent EHR Certification final rule on my new EMR News website (if you have other EMR news, please let me know). You can download the full Permanent EHR Certification final rule here (Warning: PDF). Although, I must admit that I found the permanent certification fact sheet very interesting. Here’s my summary: *Testing and certification is expected to begin under the permanent certification program on January 1, 2012 (with an exception if it’s not ready) *NIST (through its NVLAP) will continue with accrediting organization to test EHR and to work with ONC to create test tools and procedures... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4318394 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:21:05 +0100 4318394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294781&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F12%2F21%2Fwatch-for-emr-company-consolidation-but-not-emr-software-consolidation%2F I’ve regularly talked about my belief that there isn’t just one major EMR market. Instead, I firmly believe that there are a number of EMR markets that are divided by clinic size, medical specialty, and possibly even location. In fact, there’s likely even other factors. There are just far too many EHR companies for this to not be the case. I think this was also well illustrated in this blog post on Kevin MD about the “Perfect EMR Traits.” Here’s the perfect EMR trait #1: Perfect EMR Trait #1: The ideal medical record would be tailored to the specific needs of a clinician, only exposing them to portions of the record which are relevant to their work. Knowledge within healthcare is rapidly changing. Possibly more so than another other industry. Techniques ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294781 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:24:58 +0100 4294781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294782&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F12%2F20%2Fdifferent-methods-to-become-a-top-emr-company%2F A few months ago, the blogger over at Health Finch wrote blog post which analyzes 3 of the top health care IT companies and how they were started. It is very interesting to see the evolution of the large health care IT companies. Here’s the summary of the 3 companies Health Finch looked at: Epic Systems – Started with Scheduling and Billing Cerner – Started as a Laboratory Information System McKesson – Started dong Rx Management As a PS to the post, they point out Epocrates working on the same model with their Epocrates EMR. That is one of the most interesting things I’ve noted when attending the various EMR related conferences that I attend. There’s a whole variety of ways that EMR companies are approaching the market. Another example of this trend is t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294782 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:31:09 +0100 4294782 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4251163&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F12%2F08%2Fis-your-emr-a-spoon-or-a-backhoe-importance-of-how-an-emr-vendor-implements-meaningful-use%2F It has become more and more apparent that the way an EMR vendor implements the meaningful use requirements is going to be critically important to a doctor’s successful adoption of the meaningful use criteria which is of course essential to get the $44,000 in EMR stimulus money. I think it’s easy for doctors and practice managers that aren’t as familiar with the various EMR software and with the details of the EMR stimulus to get confused. On face, it seems that the effort to get the EMR stimulus money shouldn’t be affected by which EMR software you choose as long as it is an ONC-ATCB certified EMR. However, this is just categorically WRONG! The EHR certification is meant to tell you that it CAN meet the meaningful use guidelines. It doesn’t tell you how easily... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4251163 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:38:26 +0100 4251163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4207355&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FSx3vS8Oj9d4%2F It’s the weekend and I have this cool new Twitter plugin, so I decided it would be fun to do a twitter roundup. I’ll post some of the tweets I find and add some short commentary. I’ll admit that I haven’t necessarily read all of the links, but the concepts I found interesting. As a side note, you can find me on @ehrandhit and @techguy (although this one has all sorts of tweets). #bbpBox_7150331586682880{background:#C0DEED url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/64872789/HealthITExchange_eye.jpg) !important;padding:20px;}#bbpBox_7150331586682880 p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px !important;margin:0 !important;min-height:48px;color:#333333 !important;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4207355 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:40:48 +0100 4207355 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159244&cid=t_226917_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhealth-it-and-job-security%2F2010.11.11 Hospitals nationwide are racing against the clock to ensure their health IT systems meet meaningful use guidelines. The incentive? Money, of course. Systems that meet certain criteria make doctors eligible for up to $44,000 in bonus money from the government. As mentioned on this blog previously, implementing an electronic health system is difficult. The usability of the current generation of electronic health records (EHRs) is still relatively primitive, especially when compared to other industries, and the disruption in workflow is undeniable. Worse, there seems to be a lack of trained IT professionals to do the job. In a recent piece from American Medical News: 60% of hospital IT executives believe tech staffing shortages, which some estimate to be a shortfall of 50,000 qualified IT p... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159244 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:00:31 +0100 4159244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151942&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F11%2F06%2Funconventional-emr-software%2F This weekend I was thinking about some of the unconventional EMR software that exists out there. One that came to mind was SRSsoft and its hybrid EMR which from what I can tell mixes document management with some of the other essential EMR features like ePrescribing. What other EMR vendors do things like this in their EMR software? I think another example of this is the XLEMR which is built on top of the Microsoft Office software package. Definitely a unique way to address the issue of EMR. This is just a few examples to get you thinking. I’m sure there are many more! Do you know of other EMR vendors that offer similar EMR packages to those listed above? Or do you know of other EMR software that takes an unconventional approach to EMR use? If you know of one or represent an EMR that ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151942 Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:01:22 +0100 4151942 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133902&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F11%2F01%2Finsurance-payers-caustic-demeanor-towards-emr%2F I recently got an email from someone who told of a practice manager that was concerned with the insurance companies demeanor when it came to EMR. Here’s a short description of their concern: He [A practice manager] mentioned he’s noticed and heard from many physician colleagues that the insurance payers really seem to be getting more of a caustic demeanor and approach with their subscribers. In particular, they don’t seem to care that an EMR is being used. If anything, they seem to challenge the notes saying the physicians are just using a template and not doing what they say. My caller wanted to know if we were seeing more of this. I think some payers are changing demeanor in preparation for upcoming cuts due to health reform. This type of reaction is something to definitely be ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133902 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:31:42 +0100 4133902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4082163&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F10%2F13%2Femr-vanity-metrics%2F I’m still mulling over my post on EMR and EHR about EMR market share. Add in my mulling over my post about creating an EMR pricing comparison website and my mind is kind of overwhelmed with ways to try and get providers better information. One of my hobbies is learning about internet startup companies. In fact, I’m starting one of my own. In my reading about internet startup companies I found this really provocative post by Eric Ries about entrepreneur speakers lying on stage. Here’s the money quote for me: This is the same issue we see with vanity metrics: companies are giving the appearance of sharing information while actually engaging in spin or outright deception. I call this the vanity ratio: the amount of apparently interesting information given divided by the amou... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4082163 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:52:55 +0100 4082163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4082168&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F10%2F08%2Femr-pricing-comparison-website%2F In a number of my recent posts and conversations the idea that providers need a way to filter through the plethora of EHR vendors that exist out there (Between 300-600 EHR vendors) has become a really compelling theme. I think some of the challenges with filtering EHR vendors include: 1. Getting truthful information about an EHR vendor. This is especially true when it comes to pricing. There’s just a lot of bad information out there. On top of that, there’s a lot of partial information that doesn’t tell the full story of how much an EHR costs. 2. Having a way to compare the pricing of various EHR vendors. Let’s be honest, price is ALWAYS a part of the EMR selection process. However, it’s definitely a challenge for providers to try and compare prices across EHR... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4082168 Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:49:32 +0100 4082168 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4045175&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJVN8UNCY2hs%2F One of my more interesting meetings at AAFP was with a company called SLI Global Solutions. The meeting was so interesting, because SLI Global Solutions plans to apply to become an ONC-ATCB organization very soon. This coming after the announcement of the first ONC-ATCB certified EHR from Drummond Group and CCHIT along with the announcement of InfoGard as an ONC-ATCB and Weno Healthcare’s plans to become an ONC-ATCB. We obviously had a long conversation about the EHR certification, but suffice it to say that SLI Global Solutions is going full steam ahead to become an ONC-ATCB. It sounds like they’ve been doing a number of other certifications previously. They’ve even done some consulting work in healthcare. When I asked SLI Global Solutions what they thought would help th... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4045175 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:06:18 +0100 4045175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036755&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F10%2F04%2Ffuture-emr-differentiation-will-be-usability-and-not-features%2F This week I saw a product demo of EMR vendor, SOAPware. Now that SOAPware has their fully integrated practice management system, they have a great demo and all the features you could want in an EMR system. In fact, as I was watching the demo and asking questions about different features they might have or not have I came to an interesting realization. SOAPware, and most EMR vendors that have been around for any reasonable amount of time, have all of the features covered. They all have ePrescribing. They all have CPOE, and Clinical Decision Support. They all have allergy and drug interaction checking, etc etc etc. Basically, it seems like the EMR market has matured to the point that we’ve covered all the base features that a doctor could use for their clinic. The real challenge now is... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036755 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:01:08 +0100 4036755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025675&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FnRNX4nRO6Qw%2F Today, CCHIT announced their first ONC-ATCB certified EHR a day later than Drummond Group’s ONC-ATCB announcement. Although, CCHIT is announcing 33 EHR vendors (21 complete ONC-ATCB certified EHR and 12 module certified). No real surprises on this list. They were the previously CCHIT certified EHR companies. That gives us 36 total ONC-ATCB EHR right now (or 24 if we’re talking complete EHR certification). Here’s the list of Complete ONC-ATCB certified EHR: ABEL Medical Software Inc. ABELMed EHR – EMR / PM Allscripts Allscripts Professional EHR Aprima Medical Software, Inc Aprima athenahealth, Inc athenaClinicals CureMD Corporation CureMD EHR The DocPatientNetwork.com Doctations eClinicalWorks LLC eClinicalWorks Epic Systems Corporation EpicCare Inpatient – Cor... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025675 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:58:31 +0100 4025675 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025677&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FLfE2rFKa5MI%2F Drummond Group just posted the news of the first 3 EHR vendors which have been officially certified EHR for the ARRA EHR stimulus money. Looks like Drummond Group won the race to be the first to certify an EHR. The interesting thing for me is the list of 3 EHR vendors that became the first certified EHR: PARADIGM (QRS Inc.) ifa EMR (ifa united i-tech Inc.) ChartLogic EMR (ChartLogic, Inc.) I consider myself pretty well informed about EMR vendors, but I only realy knew 1 of the 3 and I’d maybe heard of one other, but just by name. As all the ONC-ATCB certified vendors start completing their EHR certification, I think we’re going to learn about a WHOLE lot of EMR vendors that very few people knew about previously. I also find it interesting that all 3 EHR vendors have already upd... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025677 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:59:41 +0100 4025677 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983448&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F16%2Ffull-cchit-certification-estimates%2F I’ve written previously about the cost of EHR certification with Drummond Group and CCHIT. However, this just addresses the hard cost of certification that’s paid to the certifying bodies. This cost doesn’t take into account a lot of other costs associated with becoming a certified EHR like the cost to develop and test the features that certification requires. Keith Boone on his blog Healthcare Standards has done a great blog post that evaluates the other costs associated with certifying an EHR software beyond the fee you pay to the certifying body. If you’re an EMR vendor, this is an article that you definitely want to look at and consider. Plus, I’d love your feedback on things he missed or where he might have missed costs or estimated to high on costs. Here... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983448 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:26:22 +0100 3983448 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983450&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F14%2Fehr-certification-testing-dates-scheduled-into-november%2F I can’t remember when or where I saw it, but at some point I saw someone reference Jim Tate from EMR Advocate as the expert on EHR certification. I’d known Jim electronically for quite a while having followed his writings online and on Twitter. I even haphazardly bumped into Jim where we both looked at it each other and recognized our pictures from Twitter. After Jim stopped by to comment on my previous EHR certification post, I emailed Jim to ask him if he wanted to do a guest blog post for EMR and HIPAA. He is busy with 3 stage 1 EHR certifications this week, but did send the following info which I found interesting and useful. I’m also looking forward to taking a look at his manual on meaningful use. I hear it’s highly targeted at doctors and clinical practices w... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983450 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:29:29 +0100 3983450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3969071&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F22Y9qkLZbrI%2F As I mentioned in my previous post about the race to be the first EHR certified (and the first ATCB to certify an EHR), there’s a lot more going on in the battle amongst the EHR certifying bodies. The first interesting detail surrounds the previous CCHIT certified EHR vendors. This turns out to be a really great move by CCHIT. A quick look at CCHIT’s website has 49 EHR products (or modules of products) that have been certified for either the CCHIT 2011 certification or for the Preliminary ARRA certification. That’s 49 pieces of EMR software (a few less since some are different versions of the same product) have paid $22k+ in order to be certified by CCHIT. I’ve talked to one of these EHR vendors and they said that CCHIT did a call with all current vendors and said t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3969071 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:05:52 +0100 3969071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965520&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F09%2Fehr-certification-the-race-for-first%2F I have a lot more to say about EHR certification and the battle we’re about to see between Drummond Group and CCHIT for EMR vendors, but I’m about to leave for an interesting conference on meaningful use, EMR and HIE. Although, I did want to just start the conversation on becoming a certified EHR. It seems like the battle is just beginning to try and secure EHR vendors under a certain certification. One of the competitive differences right now is about speed. Which EHR certification body will be the first to certify an EHR under the ARRA guidelines. It will be a big PR move for the first EHR vendor and should benefit Drummond Group or CCHIT to be first. From the dates that I’ve heard, Drummond Group seems like they’ll be accepting applications for certification firs... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965520 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:08:31 +0100 3965520 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3938402&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F02%2F3-billion-ambulatory-ehr-market%2F This recent Frost and Sullivan study (requires registration to access) has been making the healthcare IT and EMR blog rounds lately. The parts of the study that are most interesting to consider is their estimated EHR market size. A study by Frost & Sullivan predicts that revenue for the U.S. ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) market will double from $1.3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2012. Further, by 2013, the market will reach its peak, posting revenue of $3 billion. However, by 2016 market saturation will have occurred and revenue is expected to fall to $1.4 billion. That’s right. They estimate in 2013 the ambulatory EHR market will be $3 billion. Now compare that number with the $36 billion of EHR stimulus money that’s available (or whichever A... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3938402 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:08:52 +0100 3938402 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3938403&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F01%2Freshuffling-of-ambulatory-physicians-favors-large-ehr-vendors%2F She [Nancy Fabozzi, a senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan] said many physician practices are facing financial difficulties and the result is physicians are increasingly selling their practices to hospitals, entering into joint ventures with hospitals, or joining larger group practices. “This whole reshuffling and realignment among ambulatory physicians is going to have a huge impact on the vendor market because many of these 300 vendors that we talk about are a lot of mom and pop EHR companies that have under a million dollars in sales annually,” Fabozzi said. She added that if physician practices are going to be a part of a big hospital network or a large medical practice group they are going to buy EHR products from larger vendors. It’s been becoming pretty... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3938403 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:44:20 +0100 3938403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3938404&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F31%2Fdrummond-group-and-cchit-become-first-official-onc-ehr-certifying-bodies%2F We finally now have the first ONC approved EHR certification bodies (Officially ONC-ATCB or ATCB or ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Body). The first 2 ONC-ATCB are very familiar names that we’ve been talking about on EMR and HIPAA for a long time: Drummond Group and CCHIT. In an HHS and ONC press release they also noted that “Applications for additional ONC-ATCBs are also under review.” Drummond Group has already posted information on their website about their EHR certification and testing plans. The most useful item is this 10 page EHR Testing, Pricing and Certification guide (PDF). Lots of interesting information in the PDF which I’ll likely talk about later. The pricing however is worth noting now. It’s on page 8 of the PDF document and has certifi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3938404 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:20:00 +0100 3938404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3915107&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F25%2Femr-billing-matters%2F My previous post about imagining an EMR that didn’t include billing certainly has driven a lot of conversation. Actually, that was the purpose of the post. I indulge in great conversation with multiple perspectives. It’s the beauty of blogging and of life. However, please don’t let that post confuse you. Billing is an absolute essential part of an EMR software. There’s a very good reason why most EMR software out there amounts to little more than a big billing machine. The demand for healthcare software was initially to solve the challenges associated with medical billing. Markets are great at satisfying demands and that’s why the EMR software is the way it is today. This means that EMR vendors CANNOT ignore billing. Rightfully so, doctors want to get paid for... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3915107 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:08:44 +0100 3915107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3895971&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F22%2Fimagine-an-emr-without-billing%2F For today’s weekend post, here’s a thought provoking comment: Imagine what EMR software would look like if it didn’t have to worry about billing, insurance and reimbursement. Would we then see much higher quality EMR software in regards to patient care and physician workflow? I look forward to reading your thoughts. Related posts:Imagine an EMR World… Imagine a world without HIPAA Imagine a world without 100... EMR Note Just a Billing Justification Many of you might remember my post about EMR documentation... EMR’s Affect on Medical Billing Costs I received an email not too long ago from a... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3895971 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:26:56 +0100 3895971 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3885428&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F18%2Femr-question-and-answer-local-server-emr-vs-web-based-saas-emr%2F Miguel sent me the following email about local server EHR and Web Based (SaaS) EHR: A lot of vendors in Puerto Rico are selling their local server application over the web application. In fact, to my view, they have very weak arguments when selling Local Server vs Web based application. Can you direct me where to get additional information regarding the comparison of the two? Do you have an estimate, from the 100% physicians that are using EMR in US, what is the proportion of physicians using local server? What would you recommend? This is a tricky question and the question that really divides many EMR vendors into their various camps. The tricky part is that both camps are right in their assertions. So, there is no clear winner. From my perspective you can make the case for either solutio... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3885428 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:25:11 +0100 3885428 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678584&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F06%2F18%2Fmeaning-of-klas-results%2F I’ve had this post in the hopper since HIMSS back in early March. Unfortunately, it got lost in my other 200 or so draft posts that I work from for future posts. We’ll see if people think I should have left the idea in my drafts or not. During one my meetings with EMR vendors I discussed the value of KLAS and why this EMR vendor was so HIGH on CCHIT (they’re booth had it plastered all over) and why they chose not to have KLAS ratings plastered beside their CCHIT marketing plan. This really smart EMR vendor marketing manager had previously described the marketing value (note that I didn’t say technical or clinical value) of having the CCHIT certification. So, why not KLAS? This EMR vendor had obviously done their homework and had considered getting the KLAS rating. T... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678584 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:59:57 +0100 3678584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678585&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F06%2F17%2Femr-market-share%2F I regularly am asked what the market share of the various EMR companies is. Unfortunately, I think this is an impossible question to answer even if people would love to know the top EMR vendors. EMR vendors just don’t publish the number of EMR implementations they have for strategic purposes (usually). Plus, those that do publish numbers aren’t usually very truthful in the number they give out. For example, they might say something like they have 500 offices using their EMR. Then, you’ll find out that they’ve actually only sold 20 offices and one of those has 250 actual offices. Then, you’ll find out that the they have 250 offices and plan to implement the EMR in all of those offices, but they’ve only done it in 2 pilot offices right now. Another example... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678585 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:59:41 +0100 3678585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678591&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F06%2F10%2Fallscripts-acquisition-of-eclipsys%2F I’m going to be a little lazy today and just give you a couple links to the story of yesterday. I guess I get busy sometimes too. In case you missed it, the BIG news yesterday was Allscripts acquisition of Eclipsys. I posted most of the relevant links on EMR and EHR yesterday along with some interesting user comments about the deal. Also, if you like this stuff, you’ll enjoy this lengthy analysis that was done on HISTalk about the acquisition. Here’s my thoughts after reading the HISTalk analysis: “After this merger, the new company will be trying to support eight EMRs systems and five practice management solutions with a sprinkling of inpatient technology” Talk about an ugly situation. Plus, this quote doesn’t even highlight all the HIE software they’re dealing w... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678591 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:52:28 +0100 3678591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3635894&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fa5mrEeMjcnA%2F I told you on the weekends I’d try to go through and highlight some of my previous 774 posts (but who’s counting?). Obviously, there’s a lot to choose from. So, this time I decided to hit the big red button on my stats program that said “Top Posts for All Time” Yes, that’s crunching 2,636,682 pageviews to provide this data. That’s right. Over 2.6 million pageviews. I kind of shutter thinking about that. Plus, I didn’t implement this stats system (since it didn’t exist) until well into this blog, but I digress. 2 posts that I knew would be near the top is my Overwhelming List of EMR Companies post which I did back on 2/21/06 and my EMR and EHR vendors page. The former just barely edged out the prior. Man a lot has changed since early 200... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3635894 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:45:21 +0100 3635894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3617924&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FmqgTj-X3RiI%2F I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on hospitals and their motivations. I have however found it very interesting to watch from the sidelines at the various methods that Hospitals use to get their outside doctors using an EMR. The hospital ambulatory EMR offerings come in all shapes and sizes. However, at the core of pretty much every offering I’ve seen is a hospital’s desire to be connected and engaged with the outside clinics. There is some real value for a hospital to be well connected to their doctors (sounds like a good topic for a future post). The problem is that many times a hospital ambulatory EMR offering can backfire if it’s not done right. The challenge is that a hospital has to narrow its “supported EMR” choices down to a ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3617924 Mon, 31 May 2010 23:56:33 +0100 3617924 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467849&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FmFZPjwfDRQk%2F I was really intrigued by this well done article by Dr. Richard Hom about the Ethical Dilemma of the EMR. In it he describes the difference between the EMR technology world that will “sell anything at any cost” against the medical community values of things like the Hippocratic Oath. He ends the post with these stinging paragraphs: But medical angst persists. Because the EMR vendor is pursuing a “top down” sell, they bypass the medical leadership and pitch the C-level administrative staff. The medical input is usually an afterthought and the medical angst continues. Countering the medical angst and overcoming the perception of “business ethics” being ugly will not be easy. If there be a truth in medicine, it is the gaining and loss of trust. Trust is no... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467849 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:52:10 +0100 3467849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403965&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F03%2F23%2Fregional-extension-centers-recs-and-hitrcs%2F One area of the HITECH act that I haven’t heard discussed nearly enough is the Regional Extension Centers. Sure, I’ve heard them mentioned in passing plenty of times. However, I haven’t heard any real good information on what’s being done to make sure that these RECs are going to be successful in their goal of 100,000 providers becoming meaningful users of EHR’s by 2011. Yes, that’s a pretty big hairy goal. Especially considering the EHR adoption rates up until today. Not to mention, these Regional Extension Centers (RECs) are going to have to find a way to effectively help doctors sort through the 300+ EHR vendors that are on the market with more coming out every day. This is not an easy task to accomplish and will require a lot of great tools to do it ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403965 Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:19:50 +0100 3403965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403966&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F03%2F22%2F50-emr-markets-instead-of-1-emr-market%2F John Moore at Chilmark Research said, “So Many EHRs, So Little Time: Simply amazing that this market can support so many EMR/EHR companies. How they all survive or will survive is a mystery to me and rationalization will occur. ” It really is pretty stunning that 300+ EMR vendors are still trying to carve their niche in the EMR market. That’s a lot of friendly (or not so much) competition. However, I can’t help but sit back and wonder if we’re looking at this the wrong way. Maybe there’s not actually 1 EMR market out there. Maybe there are actually 50 EMR markets. The case for 50 EMR markets is simple. There is an EMR market for every specialty. Add in regional differences, countries, and I think you could get close to 50 markets. However, the number of ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403966 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:04:52 +0100 3403966 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302408&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F02%2F22%2Fonc-standards-make-cchit-process-irrelevant%2F FierceEMR has really hit the healthcare IT arena in force over the past 6 months. They even have a big party planned for HIMSS. I’ll probably be stopping by since it’s the day after the New Media Meetup at HIMSS. Well, one of my favorite healthcare IT writers, Neil Versel wrote an article for FierceEMR that really caught my eye. It was titled, “Kibbe: New ONC standards make CCHIT process ‘irrelevant’” If you’ve read this blog for any time you know that I’m an enormous fan of CCHIT (that was in the sarcasm font in case you couldn’t tell). I even declared the Marginalization of CCHIT back in July of last year. So, obviously I agree with David Kibbe’s assertion that the CCHIT process is irrelevant thanks to the HITECH act. A section ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302408 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:29:11 +0100 3302408 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3291906&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fip9oyIdKuEg%2F We’ve had a lot of discussion in the past about the cost of EHR certification. It’s been one of the biggest complaints about CCHIT and their EHR certification. One of my readers wanted me to post again about the costs and how this will be such a challenge for new EHR vendors. First, the problem isn’t that a new EHR vendor couldn’t afford the cost if they wanted to pay it. The problem is that it provides very little benefit to the end users and at the end of the day the cost of the EHR certification would be passed on to the doctors who purchase the EHR. I’m going to use round numbers, but you can see the detailed CCHIT EHR certification costs on my previous post. Basically as it stands today, full CCHIT EHR certification will run a vendor $37k or more to becom... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3291906 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:44:06 +0100 3291906 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3146059&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F01%2F04%2Fbalancing-workflow-customization-with-an-ehr%2F I’m a HUGE proponent of mapping your current workflows and evaluating how that applies to your EMR implementation. It’s absolutely essential to be able to do it right. It’s not an easy or necessarily fun task, but it pays big dividends when you go live with an EMR. However, far too many people get caught up with “my workflows” versus the “EMR workflows.” Some people like to argue that an EMR vendor should be able to customize their software to be able to support my current paper work flows. Other people argue that you should toss aside your current workflows and adopt the “best practices” standards of your EMR vendor. Of course, the real answer is as it should be: somewhere in the middle. The EMR should be built so that you can customiz... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3146059 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:04:01 +0100 3146059 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2931076&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FcGixiLqu9CQ%2F I was reading through this blog post describing the staffing challenges that face the healthcare IT and EMR industry in the coming years. I’ve read and written quite a bit about the looming crisis in filling qualified healthcare IT and EMR jobs. However, the above blog post does a nice job of looking at it from a number of different angles. Not the least of which is the challenge of retaining staff as demand for those qualified staff members increases. I’d love to hear more about what companies are doing to retain the good, qualified and experienced healthcare IT people in their organization. While we’re at it, let’s hear what EMR vendors are doing to prepare for the EMR implementation/training backlog which is likely to happen. In this regard, you might read the re... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2931076 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:47:55 +0100 2931076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927420&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F22%2Fprovider-emr-bill-of-rights%2F Lately the comments have been hopping with interesting conversations. Oh wait, I said that just a few posts ago. Well, it’s the truth! Turns out, a really interesting idea came out of a discussion about EMR vendor’s ability to export the data out of their system. The basic concept is to create what I’m calling a “Provider EMR Bill of Rights” The idea is to together create a list of criteria that would ensure that the EMR vendor isn’t just trying to make a sale, but has the best interest of the provider at heart as well. Here’s just a few examples of things that a Provider EMR Bill of Rights could include: Providers Always Own the Data in the EMR An EMR will provide a way to easily export all of the EMR data into a usable format It might be wise t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927420 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:18:49 +0100 2927420 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2901708&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F15%2Fmanaging-emr-software-enhancement-requests%2F One of the huge challenges that an EMR software vendor has is the long lists of enhancement requests that they receive from end users. Managing these requests has got to be one of the most challenging jobs of any EMR vendor’s development and support teams. An EMR vendor has so many often conflicting motivations related to which enhancement requests they add to their product. I won’t go into all the details of their job here, but let’s just say they’re walking a very small tight rope. On one side, they want to be able to create enhancements that will sale more product. On another they want to keep their current users satisfied. On the other, they don’t want to make their product to specific to one area, region, specialty (unless it’s specialty specific), ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2901708 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:03:41 +0100 2901708 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2890737&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHwOughndQNk%2F No one asked (well at least not publicly), but I wanted to share my opinions on what EMR vendors should be doing in regards to EHR certification. I guess you could say this is a small sample of the advice I’d offer as an EMR vendor advisor albeit not EMR vendor specific and with less detail. Take it for what it’s worth. If I’m an EMR vendor today, I’d definitely avoid going out and getting either the CCHIT Certified 2011 or the Preliminary ARRA 2011 EHR certifications. One reader of this site emailed me an estimate of $100,000 up front and $9,000 renewal fee per year for the CCHIT certifications they were considering. Certainly it could be less if you just go with the Preliminary ARRA certification, but regardless the cost is quite large. Instead, I’d take a m... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2890737 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:25:41 +0100 2890737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2828295&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FAKO5gAogCP0%2F John Halamka recently posted the following about whether doctors and practices should wait to purchase an EMR. Here’s his response: I’m often asked by clinicians and hospitals if they should wait to purchase an EHR because of the uncertainty regarding meaningful use and certification. I tell them to move forward now. The following is my response I made to him in the comments of his blog: Thanks for sharing the timeline[also included in the blog post listed above and similar to my previous post on the EMR stimulus meaningful use and certified EHR timeline]. However, I do disagree with you that people should be selecting and implementing an EHR now. There’s no rush to do this. I can agree that users should start reviewing the various EHR vendors and technologies that are av... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2828295 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:55:18 +0100 2828295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796530&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHwr9OYNwsyM%2F Time to take a look at the costs associated with the 2011 CCHIT Certification programs. If you’re not sure which programs I’m talking about, you need to go read my post about Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 and CCHIT Certified 2011. The following are the costs that CCHIT plans to charge for their 2011 EHR certifications: CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR – $37,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 Inpatient EHR – $49,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 Emergency Department – $37,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 ePrescribing – $18,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 1-2 modules – $6,000 with a $1,000 annual renewal Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 3-5 modules &... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796530 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:52:03 +0100 2796530 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2793252&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F09%2F12%2Fpreliminary-arra-certified-and-cchit-certified%2F As promised, here’s my look into the two certifications that CCHIT is currently pursuing. I got most of the details of what they’re talking about from this CCHIT presentation. Basically, CCHIT plans to offer two forms of EHR certification starting October 7, 2009: CCHIT Certified 2011 and Preliminary ARRA 2011. CCHIT Certified 2011 is basically just a continuation of the certification that they’ve been doing for a number of years now. I won’t go into all the details about why this is a waste of money, development time and provides no improvement an EMR implementation success rates, but a quick search through my posts on CCHIT will be good place to start if you’re interested. Of course, the one difference between the 2011 CCHIT EHR certification is that they&#8... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2793252 Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:32:43 +0100 2793252 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2793254&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F09%2F11%2Fcchit-town-hall-meeting-on-preliminary-arra-certified-ehr%2F I’ll be honest with you. For my own health I took off the last month from reading about CCHIT. I guess the birth of my third child made a difference as well. However, I’d been getting some comments and emails lately about CCHIT’s new certification programs and so I had to go and take a look at what was going on. Well, let’s just say that CCHIT has yet to disappoint me. They are so full of CCHIT that it’s not even funny. The conclusions they come to are crazy. Ok, now that I’ve made my bias clear, take a look at some of the things they’re saying. One of CCHIT’s first conclusions made (in this blog post) after doing some polling at a CCHIT town hall meeting of vendors (mostly) is as follows: Only a small fraction intend to wait until final ARRA... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2793254 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:30:27 +0100 2793254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2730174&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FPW_oVYAGSCY%2F I’ve been exchanging emails with someone in the EMR industry who described us as going through some interesting times of hype, hope and hyperbole. Then, they went on to say: “I have installed (successfully and not so successfully) EMR’s and clinical systems from most vendors since the mid 90’s and found almost all vaporware looking for their next sale, but not too worried about their last.” Thankfully, I know a couple EMR vendors that aren’t just “vaporware looking for the next sale.” Sadly, far too many of them are. Related posts:Promising EHR Prospects with Short List of EHR Sales I recently got the following message from a colleague who...Another Example Why Small EHR Companies Face Tough Challenges No doubt many small EHR companies have been lo... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2730174 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:36:08 +0100 2730174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630207&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FhuGxwC03ONU%2F If you’ve read this blog for any time, you know that I’m not a big fan of CCHIT. Certainly, I can’t argue that CCHIT EHR certification isn’t a great marketing tool for EHR vendors. However, I strongly believe that the CCHIT certification gives doctors a false hope that the CCHIT certified EMR that they select will somehow have a higher implementation success rate than another EMR. If this were true, CCHIT would be certain to be proclaiming it from every channel possible. Instead, there’s no data that this is true and it’s sad that so many doctors think it’s the case. With that background, I was quite happy to see that the HIT Policy Committee basically marginalized CCHIT into a certifying body as opposed to a EHR certification criteria creator. I&#... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630207 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:48:17 +0100 2630207 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441900&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FuyVJIET1izs%2F No doubt many small EHR companies have been looking at themselves in the mirror long and hard and asking themselves how they’re going to survive this rough market. Not only did the HITECH act slow purchasing of EHR systems, but between “certified EHR” and “meaningful use” many are questioning where the small EHR vendor will fit into the EHR market. I could (and probably will at some point) expound on each of the topics above, but I think that EHR vendors have an even more difficult challenge on their hands. The challenge comes in the form of incredibly large number of marketing dollars and splashy partnerships. Here’s just one simple example of what I’m talking about. It was just announced that HEALTHeLINK, The Western New York Clinical Information... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441900 Wed, 27 May 2009 14:23:34 +0100 2441900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405562&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F05%2F13%2Fsink-or-swim-after-emr-purchase%2F I find it really disturbing the number of stories I read about doctors who have purchased an EMR basically being left to ’sink or swim’ once the EMR purchase and training process is complete. This is not always the case. Some EMR companies really take a vested interest in those who purchase their EMR software. That’s my biggest compliment of the EMR company I work with on a daily basis is that they really did care about us having a successful EMR implementation. I know a number of others who are just as vested in a clinic’s success. Unfortunately, far too many EMR vendors don’t take a vested interest in a practice and after the purchase and initial training, the practice is basically left to finish the EHR implementation on their own. Let’s take a look a... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405562 Thu, 14 May 2009 02:32:03 +0100 2405562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405563&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F05%2F13%2Fkiller-emr-features-according-to-emr-vendors%2F I previously posted a request to hear about the “killer” EMR features that set an EMR vendor’s software apart from the other 400 EMR vendors out there. As expected, some of the people who sent me a message didn’t understand what I mean. However, a few of the responses we’re pretty interesting. I think we’ve barely scratched the surface on EMR features, so please keep submitting your best EMR feature on the contact us page. Here’s a quick look at three of the responses from EMR vendors. I’ve added strikethroughs when it’s not a killer feature and my commentary is in italics. First up is SRSSoft’s killer EMR feature: The SRS hybrid EMR is a killer EMR, with the prime killer feature being “speed.” Speed is built into the hybrid E... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405563 Wed, 13 May 2009 07:41:14 +0100 2405563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405566&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F05%2F11%2Femr-salesperson-myth-specialty-templates%2F Time to call out another myth that EMR salespeople love to use to sell their EMR system. Here’s the question and answer that will be familiar to many: Doctor: Do you have templates for my specialty? EMR Salesperson: Of course, we have tons of templates for your specialty. Available templates is one of those myths that is perpetuated by many EMR companies. The problem with the question being asked is that “EMR salespeople” wouldn’t know the difference between a good and bad EMR template if they tried. Add in the idea of specialty specific templates and it’s no wonder they don’t know how to give a doctor a real answer to that question. They are also so far removed from the EMR template development that they can’t reasonably answer that question. So, ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405566 Tue, 12 May 2009 01:13:22 +0100 2405566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2390013&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FPeU4ND_70wk%2F I was thinking about the over 400 EMR vendors I have listed on my site and on the EMR and EHR matrix of companies (shameless plug). With that many EMR vendors, I have to assume that every one of them has a solid reason why they’re better than other EMR vendors. At least it seems logical that they should have at least some “killer feature” that sets their EMR apart from the other 400 choices out there. This got me to thinking that I’d love to hear EMR vendors make the case for their killer feature(s). Let’s hear you make the case for your EMR in the comments or submit it to our Contact Us page. Those features that catch my eye will be featured on this site with a link to your EMR company. I expect that most killer features will need at least a small paragraph t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2390013 Wed, 06 May 2009 15:06:01 +0100 2390013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376300&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=38130&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tempdev.net%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D808 One of the hottest blog topics of late 2008 / early 2009 has been the cries of smaller EHR vendors that innovation is stifled by large EHR vendors and CCHIT. I’ll agree that some aspects of CCHIT are disconcerting, particularly the focus on ratcheting up functionality requirements that are largely irrelevant to the goals of improving patient care, EHR usability, and connectivity. However, the EHR market is clearly over-saturated with a tremendous list of EHR vendors . Having a quality product put together by a genius doctor, who used to be a programmer, is no longer enough. At this point, smaller EHR vendors need to be disruptive to capture market share; doing so will put the smaller vendors in the driver’s seat and make larger vendors sit up and take notice. Three EHR vendors ... Implementing EMRs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376300 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:08:12 +0100 2376300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348797&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FoYhaPuLtR9k%2F I recently got an email from an EHR vendor talking about how they just had a practice uninstall a CCHIT certified EHR and replace it with this EHR vendor’s EHR which was not CCHIT certified. This fact really wasn’t news to me and shouldn’t be news to anyone ready this forum. Although, if it is news to you, then know that this is a very common occurrence in the EHR world in general. What was really interesting to me was to actually see an EHR vendor put a marketing and PR plan in action which basically says, “We’re not CCHIT certified and doctors like our EHR software better.” I mentioned to an EHR vendor I talked to recently that I think there’s a great opportunity available for some EHR vendor to say that we don’t waste our money on CCHIT ce... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348797 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:16:16 +0100 2348797 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348799&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FgoIxShCuqs0%2F Just sitting back and taking a look at the current EHR and EMR market, I have a strong feeling that we’re going to see a number of EHR vendors close up shop. Many of them may be disguised as purchases by bigger vendors who are trying to gain market share. Others will probably just close their doors completely and users of that EHR system will wonder why their support requests aren’t getting the response from their EHR vendor that they’re use to receiving. I’ve talked previously about how EHR adoption will be slowed by the HITECH act. This slowing of EHR adoption is going to put a number of EHR vendors out of business. I have a feeling that far too many EHR vendors based their burn rate on their previous sales. Now that sales have slowed, they’re going to have ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348799 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:28:22 +0100 2348799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348800&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FQZi9XKVhMp8%2F This quote was far too interesting to not repost it here for all to read. Each and every piece of multi, multi-million dollar bloated piece of crap healthcare “electronic medical record” (sounds about as dated as electronic mail, doesn’t it?”), is simply a billing engine to communicate a medical diagnosis to insurance companies with the hopes of maximizing how much doctors are paid. Each diagnosis and procedure has these numerical codes. They are a ridiculously robust antiquated language, like the code written to power the Commodore 64. There are people who speak this language - the 100 or so medical billers who are holed up in the basement of every hospital. I’ve often argued that many EMR companies are just bloated billing software. However, Dr. Jay Parkinson described tha... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348800 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:42:22 +0100 2348800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348803&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FR8B7iVBEm5c%2F I finally had a few moments to watch the Matthew Holt interview of Glen Tullman, Allscripts CEO at HIMSS. Allscripts is no doubt a large player in the EHR industry (like it or not). This is especially true after Allscripts acquisition of Misys. So, Glen Tullman will have a large effect on the EHR industry so it’s worth listening to hear what he has to say. I’ll include a few quick comments of my own below the video. Overall a pretty low key video. There were a few things that are worth commenting on. The first thing that hit me was that Glen Tullman thought that the controversy over CCHIT was that CCHIT certified over 300 EHR vendors. Glen makes the argument that government wants a smaller footprint of EHR vendors and that 300 was too many. I guess I can kind of see why govern... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348803 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:53:52 +0100 2348803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314664&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FLyF51lqNXa8%2F The more I consider what Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault are doing, the more I think that they just might have found the real solution to interoperable health records. I’m still holding out final judgment, but I’m really impressed with some of the things there doing. For example, Techcrunch reported that Google Health just recently partnered with CVS for Google Health to connect with CVS to try and create a comprehensive pharmacy history. Considering Google had previously signed up Longs Drugs and Walgreens, Google is making good head way towards this goal. No doubt Google Health is also in discussions with Wal-Mart and Target, two of the other major players in this space. Of course, the next step is to get patients to actually start adopting this technology. I can&#821... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314664 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:18:48 +0100 2314664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314668&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FF03q7YmYd64%2F Selection of EHR software has definitely slowed. I predicted EHR adoption would slow back in February and I’ve definitely seen the selection process slowing. One of the main reasons people are waiting to adopt is they want to know what’s going to be defined as a “certified EHR” and “meaningful use.” In order to combat this slow down in EHR purchases, we knew it was only a matter of time until EHR vendors started promising to support whatever is required to become a “certified EHR.” The first one I found with an EHR guarantee was NextGen. Here’s a summary of their commitment: A solution that will always evolve to meet the standards and certifications for federal stimulus reimbursement programs of interest to physicians using NextGen He... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314668 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:57:21 +0100 2314668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200359&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F02%2F19%2Fallscripts-market-share-and-hitech%2F I recently found an interesting post about AllScripts market share after the acquisition of Misys last year. Based on recent research, Allscripts is estimated to own about 21% of market share for the practice management system space. Further, of the 18% or so of medical providers who have adopted electronic health records, Allscripts has around 17% of that market. 21% of the EHR market is pretty huge. Congratulations AllScripts. I previously posted a really cool viral EHR video by AllScripts. I really like things like this that AllScripts is doing. It’s nice that a technology company is using technology to encourage EHR adoption. I have been a little soured towards AllScripts after I posted about AllScripts CEO being a HIT advisor to Obama. I just can’t comprehend how an EHR ve... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200359 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:53:22 +0100 2200359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200360&cid=t_226917_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F02%2F19%2Fbig-winners-from-obama-ehr-stimulus-hitech%2F Discussion of Obama EHR Stimulus Today the following videos came across my Twitter feed and...Economic Stimulus Bill Simplified Today, “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” was...Effect of Stimulus Package on EHR Adoption The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act’s... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200360 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:19:56 +0100 2200360