EMR and EHR

New EMR Certification to Compete with CCHIT

emrandehr — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:03:20 +0000

There was some very good news for all of those interested in the EMR world. A new company has announced that they’ll join the EMR certification world. The Drummond Group is there name and they’ve been doing goverment certification for quite a while. You can hear more about The Drummond Group and EHR certification in this interview with the CEO of Drummond Group.

Related to that, you will find the ONC guidance for EHR certification bodies interesting if you’re looking at EHR certification also.

EHR Stimulus Medicare Incentive Payments from ARRA

emrandehr — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:58:01 +0000

Not to many people have been focusing on the practical side of the ARRA EHR stimulus money that’s being given out to those who adopt an electronic health record. Take a look at this description of the EHR stimulus money available under Medicare. Also, please go and vote in this poll that tries to assess how many people will actually have enough Medicare reimbursement to qualify for the EHR stimulus money.

Are you planning on EHR stimulus money for your clinic?

EHR Meaningful Use Resources

sytycd — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:23:51 +0000

Many are looking forward to having a final definition of the terms meaningful use and certified EHR in order to get EHR stimulus money from ARRA. The EHR meaningful use matrix was released by the HIT Policy Committee to ONC and here’s a nice review of some of the issues with the EHR meaningful use matrix. For those who don’t know about the EHR stimulus money, here’s the EHR stimulus bill simplified.

ONC Meeting with CCHIT Alternatives and Meaningful Use Sent Back by David Blumenthal

emrandehr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:22:37 +0000

Two really interesting developments are occurring with the all important EHR stimulus package. Check out the following two EMR news items:
Definition of Meaningful Use sent back to HIT Policy Committee by David Blumenthal
Alternative EHR Certifications to CCHIT Meeting with ONC

It’s going to be a busy summer for those interested in EMR and EHR. It’s amazing what a few billion dollars of EHR stimulus money will do.

CCHIT Announces New EHR Certification Plans

sytycd — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:57:44 +0000

CCHIT is really going full steam ahead on trying to make sure that CCHIT’s EHR certification is the one selected as the “certified EHR” criteria for ARRA. John Chilmark advised Mark Leavitt of CCHIT to not “count your chickens before they hatch.” Good advice from a really smart guy.

Here’s a link for those interested in the new CCHIT EHR Certification paths. It’s a nice succinct description of the changes that CCHIT plans to do. Plus, you can read some additional thoughts about the challenges and benefits of the new EHR certifications.

Most interesting might actually be the Certified EHR and meaningful use overlap and also a look at why we have EHR Certifcation at all (maybe we shouldn’t).

Good Review of EMR Consultants

emrandehr — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:20:31 +0000

I found this five part series which discusses the pros, cons, challenges and benefits of using an EMR consultant. Check them out:
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Selection Process
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – EMR Training
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Clinical Process Mapping
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Comprehensive Technology Support
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Improved Clinical Buy-in

The important thing to remember is the difference between EMR salespeople that call themselves consultants. There’s a big difference. Don’t be confused into thinking they’re really EMR consultants when all they want to do is sell you a certain EMR product.

Non CCHIT EHR Use Will Be Illegal in New Jersey if Bill Passes

emrandehr — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:40:00 +0000

There’s a real controversy brewing in New Jersey with a bill that was presented that would make use of a non CCHIT certified EHR illegal in New Jersey. Yes, it’s as ludicrous as it sounds and yet the bill passed unanimously through the committee.

Here’s links to more information on the bill:
NJ Bill Makes Non CCHIT EHR Use Illegal – A nice summary of Herb Conaway’s bill
Financial Ties to NJ Bill Sponsor and Healthcare IT – You knew there had to be money involved right?
An NJ EMR Vendor’s Response to the Bill – Looks like it effects more than EHR companies
CCHIT’s Response to the Bill – Unbelievably, they don’t support the bill. As so they shouldn’t.

Welcome to EMR and EHR!!

emrandehr — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:22:24 +0000

We’re just getting this website going to display links to some of the very best EMR (electronic medical record) and EHR (electronic health record) related content on the internet. Our goal is to help inform more doctors about all the great information that’s available online to those searching for information on EMR and EHR.

With the latest billions of dollars available to doctors in the HITECH Act (ARRA), interest in EMR and EHR has never been higher. Hopefully we can have an impact by helping doctors justify the EMR implementation decision, select the right EMR company, and have a successful EMR implementation.

Just to get started here’s a few useful links:
EMR and EHR Vendors
Benefits of EMR or EHR over Paper Charts

Also, take a look and start participating in the EMR, EHR and HIPAA wiki.