Q: Physicians are afraid of EMR (Electronic Medical Record) project failure, so why should their practice go through the headache of integrating EMR now?
A: Murphy’s law states that if anything can go wrong, it will, and EMR integration is no stranger to this rule. However, project failure is certainly avoidable if the practice takes the [...]

Q: Most physicians don’t understand the technology world, so how do physicians who view technology as something that is foreign to them even begin to understand which EMR/HIT vendor to choose?
A: It is important to choose an EMR/HIT vendor that caters to the needs of their practice, as different vendors offer slightly different things. It’s [...]

Q:How does my clinical practice get the best price for EMR?
A:When you receive a proposal for new EMR, be sure to look at license fees, service fees, interface fees, and all other aspects of the proposal. Although the cost for EMR may appear competitive, there are often hidden costs in these sections. Most vendors have [...]

Q: Since physicians don’t like change and are not often interested in changing the way they practice, why should they purchase electronic medical records (EMR) for their group practice?
A: Physicians interested in EMR for their practice should not view this as an all or nothing shift in the way they will practice medicine. MDs should [...]

I read an article on the MEDITECH website regarding Parkview Adventist Medical Center and their approach to EHR (Electronic Health Record), “Small Hospital is Big News.” The article states, “The facility and its CIO Bill McQuaid have been making regional and national headlines for undertaking a secure, cost-effective, and meaningful approach to EHR use.” [...]

I think it’s great that the federal budget proposed on Monday, February 10, 2010 included $110 million for healthcare IT. But is the money going where we need it and is it enough? OK, you’re right. I’m asking the question because I don’t think so.
The money is earmarked to strengthen healthcare IT policy coordination [...]

With the excitement of Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) in the 1979 film “The Jerk” I was thrilled to see the government release the definition of meaningful use at the end of 2009. The nearly 600 page document was as big as the phonebook that contained Navin R. Johnson’s new listing and made him “somebody” [...]

Health Data Management reported on December 7 that the Department of Health and Human Services is on time in the agency’s effort to release rules regarding HITECH, a key component of ARRA (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Anybody seen them? Yeah, neither have I. They were supposed to be out on the same day [...]

Any MEDITECH organization has the potential to unlock the effectiveness of their health information system (HIS) by investing within the organization’s workforce (by providing opportunities, and incentives), processes improvement workflows/designs, and technology. Having the right technologies in place is pivotal in achieving the highest quality of care, however, if the existing workflows are not [...]

Last week, Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, unveiled grant money as part of the HITECH stimulus funding. So now we know there is money available other than through the demonstration of meaningful use – $1.2 billion in HITECH grants.
The two-part funding initiative is set up to 1) create dozens of Health [...]