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 [...]

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.” [...]

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 [...]

This past week I had the opportunity to speak with about 30 CFOs. Some were from community hospitals and others were from critical access hospitals. All were there for the same reason: to learn about the federal EHR Incentive Program. But before I went into the details of Stage 1 of “Meaningful Use” I took [...]

I struggled for a week trying to come up with a topic for this week. Driving home last night from a Cub Scout meeting it came to me… a Top 10 to get us into 2010! Now, what stories in healthcare IT? Surely ARRA and HITECH. And defining and refining “meaningful use.” What about the [...]

http://www.mgma.com/WorkArea/mgma_downloadasset.aspx?id=31758 http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/meaningful_use-39399-1.html http://www.inteck-inc.com/leadershipteam.htm#JK http://www.inteck-inc.com/services.htm

If you’ve been attending the numerous seminars covering ARRA and HITECH stimulus money you know the vendors are trying to sell electronic health/medical records. And that is justifiably so. Without the technology there will be no way to achieve the meaningful use requirements. But the ultimate goal isn’t to have an EMR in every physician [...]

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 [...]

MEDITECH recently distributed a press release, “MEDITECH Announces New ARRA Materials.” In order to qualify for stimulus funds, facilities must achieve “meaningful use” levels of their IT systems. There are many questions circulating around ARRA and the definition of “meaningful use.” I thought it was interesting and a needed piece of information [...]