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 [...]

The race is officially on. EMR vendors have been busy since the beginning of the year to prepare their systems to meet the requirements of Meaningful Use – Stage 1. Now, one of the biggest questions marks in the process is a giant step closer to being answered. On one of the biggest stages possible [...]

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” [...]

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal e-mailed an open letter last week. In it he discussed “meaningful use.” He declared the concept “simple and inspiring.” But don’t throw away the HIT Policy Committee matrix just yet. The not-so simple matrix is still going to be a critical part of getting the incentive payments [...]

If you know anyone within our industry, then you know that the EMR vendors are on the prowl. No, not for customers looking to become ready to prove meaningful use in time to cash in. The vendors are hunting for people – healthcare information technology professionals to hire. It’s a great time to be looking [...]

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 [...]