Category Archives: Healthcare Articles

2012′s Hottest Health Care IT Trends

Wondering what the most-discussed health care IT topics were in 2011—and what they’ll likely be in 2012? ID Experts compiled expert opinions and found them to be much the same: mobile devices, patient privacy rights, and data breaches. Below are several of the items from ID Experts’ top 10 list, and additional items and details [...]
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Why It’s Time to Review Your Workflows

An electronic medical record (EMR) implementation isn’t just about replacing paper charts with digital technology. EMRs also provide a perfect opportunity to review and improve your workflows. The result can be increased efficiencies—which means decreased costs. Your medical practice has probably been doing things the same way for a long time. Maybe you think you [...]
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How to Help Your EMR Constituents

Electronic medical record (EMR) implementations aren’t always simple—especially for small physician groups, which may lack dedicated information technology resources. However, following a few best practices regarding your constituents can help ensure that the process proceeds smoothly. Here are three. Personalize for physicians. No two physicians are exactly like, so no two physicians should have to [...]
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Paper is Safer? Depends Whom You Ask

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are safer than their paper counterparts, according to a new survey of physicians—but a similar survey of patients didn’t get the same response. They think paper is still safer, which means some education is in order. The survey, which was conducted by GfK Roper on behalf of Practice Fusion, asked patients [...]
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The AMA Wants You to Adopt an EMR

The American Medical Association (AMA) is taking an active role in persuading physicians to use information technology (IT), including electronic medical records (EMRs), in their practices—which shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the AMA has been working with a number of leading health care IT organizations, such as the EHR Collaborative, e-Health Initiative, and [...]
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Avoiding Four EMR Implementation Mistakes

Electronic medical record (EMR) implementation has the potential to be an arduous process, in part because medical practices tend to make four major mistakes when transitioning from paper-based records: mismatching IT, misplacing resources, ignoring accountability, and mismanaging logistics. Below we outline those mistakes and explain how you can avoid them. Mistake #1: Mismatching IT. According [...]
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Managing Change in EMR Implementation

When your medical practice makes the transition to an electronic medical record (EMR), which is inevitable, careful planning can help the change go smoothly—and careful planning, in the context of EMR implementation, can be referred to as “change management”. Change management consists of up-front assessment and planning—but there’s much more involved than simply creating a [...]
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EMR Incentives Lead to Quality ROI

Government’s incentives for electronic medical record (EMR) adoption could pay off in improved quality of care, according to a new study. It found that patients in physician practices that used EMRs got better care and had better outcomes than those in physician practices that used paper records. The study, published in the New England Journal [...]
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Five Ways to Make Your EMR Usable

Lack of usability is often at the root of slow electronic medical record (EMR) adoption—but usability refers to more than user satisfaction. It’s not about the screens and the number of clicks used to navigate them; it’s about the functionality of the system. Below are five ways to ensure your EMR won’t cause headaches. Ease. [...]
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Five EMR Myths that Need to be Busted

Many health care practitioners are still reluctant to implement electronic medical records (EMRs) despite increasing evidence of their benefits to practices and patients as well as significant financial incentives from the federal government—but the following five myths should not be among your reasons for reluctance. EMRs are primarily for hospitals. EMRs are used more in [...]
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