By Neil Versel

Hard to believe, but 52 percent of specialists and 50 percent of primary-care physicians claim to be using EMRs, up from 42 percent and 38 percent, respectively, two years earlier, a new survey indicates. The survey does not specify what EMR usage means.

“While use of this technology will soon be mandated, these ‘early adopter’ levels suggest a desire for digital convenience at a time when patient record keeping promises to become exponentially more complex,” reports New York-based survey firm Knowledge Networks. The company conducted the study of nearly 11,000 healthcare professionals through the Physicians Consulting Network, which maintains a research panel of physicians and other caregivers.

(We quibble with whether 50 percent is “early adopter” level–or even accurate–and that technology will “soon be mandated.” CMS will penalize those that haven’t gotten to “meaningful use” by 2015, but won’t exclude non-compliant providers. For that matter, participation in Medicare and Medicaid is voluntary.)

One possible explanation for the increased EMR use is the fact that physicians continue to be crunched for time, a situation that will only get worse as 32 million newly insured patients enter the healthcare system in coming years, thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Supporting this theory is the finding in the survey that 14 percent of primary-care docs and 12 percent of specialists expect to spend less time with pharmaceutical sales representatives in the next six months. Those numbers compare with 9 percent (PCP) and 8 percent (specialists) in the 2008 survey.

Meanwhile, physicians seem to be embracing smartphones to improve their efficiency. The survey found that 62 percent of specialists and 55 percent of primary-care physicians have such devices, and that at least 17 percent of these smartphone owners are using their phones for e-detailing from pharma reps.

“Healthcare professionals are embracing new technologies that promise more control and convenience; we cannot help but see a connection between the use of smartphones for e-detailing and an anticipated drop in time spent with sales reps,” Knowledge Networks Senior VP Jim Vielee tells Healthcare IT News. “These trends seem destined to magnify as healthcare reform takes effect, creating dramatic upswings in doctors’ case loads.”

Source: http://www.fierceemr.com/story/knowledge-networks-says-half-docs-now-use-emrs/2010-07-15

Primary care physicians and specialist doctors are using electronic medical records more, and more than half have smartphones, according to a Knowledge Networks study.

By Nicole Lewis

A growing number of primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialist doctors are using electronic medical records and other technologies as they adopt health information technology to streamline their workflow processes, a new study shows.

The survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks in conjunction with the Physicians Consulting Network (PCN) and its panel of specialists and other health care professionals, shows that 52 percent of specialists and 50 percent of PCPs said they are already keeping their patient records in an electronic format — up 10 percentage points for specialists and 12 points for PCPs since 2008.

Published last week, the study of nearly 11,000 health care professionals also shows that more than half of PCPs and specialists already have smartphones, and that many are using them for email, shopping, e-detailing and to participate in surveys.

The report reveals that smartphones, such as iPhones and BlackBerries, are quickly becoming a way of life for medical professionals. Sixty two percent of specialists and 55 percent of PCPs report having one, and roughly 85 percent to 90 percent of those who have them are using them for Internet and for email.

Other findings were that 17 percent of PCPs and 18 percent of specialists who have smartphones are using them for e-detailing, which refers to the use of technology to bypass sales calls from pharmaceutical representative. Higher proportions — 29 percent of PCPs and 24 percent of specialists — use smartphones to participate in on-line surveys.

Executives at Knowledge Networks say the research reflects the way digital technology and other factors are transforming doctors’ attitudes and habits.

“Marketers must adjust to the needs of plugged-in, increasingly busy doctors in everything they do - from the platforms they use for messaging to the time they expect to have with prescribers,” Jim Vielee, senior vice president at Knowledge Networks, said in a statement. “Health care professionals are embracing new technologies that promise more control and convenience; we cannot help but see a connection between the use of smartphones for e-detailing and an anticipated drop in time spent with sales reps. These trends seem destined to magnify as health care reform takes effect, creating dramatic upswings in doctors’ case loads.”

Knowledge Networks is a company that works closely with clients to create, effective marketing, advertising, public policies, and social science research.

Source:http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/EMR/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225800003&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News

By Neil Versel

The first anniversary of the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–Irvine, Calif.-based research firm SK&A published a report saying that 36.1 percent of physician offices have some form of electronic medical record. That’s 3.2 percentage points greater than the 32.9 percent adoption rate reported in February 2009.

Those numbers may seem high, based on studies in esteemed academic publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, but they are in line with the findings from recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. It’s also worth noting that SK&A had a huge sample size of 180,000 physician offices in the U.S.

It’s no surprise that adoption rates seem to be related to number of physicians, number of exam rooms in the office and daily patient volume, with larger practices more likely to have EMRs. Practices owned by integrated health systems tend to have greater EMR usage as well, slightly above 50 percent. Given that primary care is increasingly burdened with high patient loads and starved for cash, general practice was near the bottom in terms of EMR adoption, SK&A reports. Dialysis, critical care and radiology reported the highest EMR usage rates.

Source:http://www.fierceemr.com/story/emr-use-inches-physician-offices/2010-02-18

By Neil Versel

The Adoption/Certification Workgroup of the federal Health IT Policy Committee wants to require hospitals and physicians to report “hazards and near-misses” as a result of software malfunctions, beginning in 2013. Reporting would become part of demonstrating “meaningful use” of EMRs and thus a condition for receiving Medicare and Medicaid bonus payments.

While some would like to see a database on EMR and data glitches up and running sooner than that, some patient-safety advocates believe 2013 is unrealistic. “I think it will take a while to do this right,” UCSF physician Dr. Robert M. Wachter tells the Huffington Post Investigative Fund. “The problem here is that there are potentially dangerous systems and we have no mechanism to figure out what they are or to force them to improve,” he adds.

The database could help pull together an uncoordinated group of existing public and private data repositories, such as the voluntary reporting system the FDA runs to track issues with devices it regulates. However, that system, like many others, has limited public access and redacts any fields that could identify the reporting organization.

The workgroup envisions a reporting system in which patients are encouraged to report errors and omissions in their own medical records and recommends that vendors include “feedback” buttons so they can report problems with a single click.

To learn more:
- see this Huffington Post Investigative Fund story
- check out this take from Federal Computer Week

Source: http://www.fierceemr.com/story/federal-panel-wants-national-reporting-emr-software-data-errors/2010-04-01

By Neil Versel

Plenty has been said about the potential for EMRs and telemedicine to improve the woeful state of care in America’s prisons, but juvenile detention facilities often get left out of the discussion.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County supervisors approved $17 million in funding for an EMR system to manage the medical records of the more than 1,500 youngsters being held in county juvenile camps and halls. The EMR is intended to improve record keeping in the county’s Probation Department, which federal authorities have cited multiple times in recent years for keeping inadequate medical records on youths in custody.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has said the poor record-keeping has resulted in “inconsistent or inappropriate treatment and medication.” Los Angeles County currently faces the threat of a civil-rights lawsuit that could strip county officials of some of their control over the Probation Department, the newspaper says.

Though juvenile detainees often get moved between facilities in Los Angeles County, paper records don’t always follow them. The EMR is intended to rectify that problem. The Probation Department’s CIO says the unspecified system should be in place in 15 to 18 months.

Source:http://www.fierceemr.com/story/l-county-approves-17m-emr-juvenile-detention-facilities/2010-06-03

Selecting electronic medical records software is notoriously difficult. The EMR market is flooded with several hundred vendors that cover the full spectrum of pricing and functionality, and clinics often have trouble cutting through the marketing noise.

Federal qualified health centers (FQHCs) are certainly not exempt from this predicament. They too will be required to use electronic medical records by 2015. Since most are using paper charts, the transition to electronic can be especially challenging for them.

When beginning the search for an EMR, we recommend that buyers assemble a list of their key requirements. Specialty-specific templates, lab integration, e-prescribing, and device integration are commonly required features. FQHCs, however, need to consider additional functionality due to their unique offering.

These requirements include:

• The ability to serve a wide range of specialties. Most FQHCs will need a system that supports a broad range of care – primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, physical therapy, dental, etc. While many vendors can address primary care and related specialties, very few can also address mental/behavioral health, therapy, and dental care in a single system.
• FQHC reports. As you know, FQHCs are required to track detailed patient information and provide Universal Services Data (USD) reports on patient demographics, statistics, and trends. Most software vendors on the market will have basic reports for patient demographics and sometimes PQRI, but most will not offer specific FQHC reports out of the box.
• Support for sliding fee scale adjustments. Systems built for FQHCs will allow administrators to apply discounts based on family size and income. Most vendors will not offer this functionality, requiring users to complete adjustments manually. This process can become very labor-intensive and increase the room for human error.
• Efficient workflows for high-volume centers. FQHCs are notoriously busy, with many providers seeing 30-40 patients per day. This large patient load will require a system that allows users to complete notes quickly, calculate charges efficiently, and generate claims automatically. Wasting time with redundant tasks can quickly lower an FQHC’s ability to support high patient volumes.

Although the EMR software market is large and complex, FQHCs can begin their EMR search processes effectively by focusing on software vendors that offer these four features. They will further benefit from the simple fact that fewer software vendors can serve their specialized needs. This smaller universe of potential vendors will help them quickly identify potential options and make the research process that much easier.

Source: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/medical/emr-selection-primer-four-essential-features-for-fqhcs-1061510/#ixzz0r6HUnpcG

By, Mike Miliard

NEW YORK – The worldwide market for hospital information systems is positioned for significant growth in the coming years, according to a new study from GlobalData.

The global market is forecast to exceed $18 billion by 2016, after growing at a compound annual rate of 13 percent from its $7.8 billion valuation in 2009.

That growth is primarily driven by hospitals that stand to receive government reimbursements as they try to improve care and increase workflow efficiency with information technology. Overall, the study shows, hospital officials strongly believe that adopting HIS will greatly increase efficiency and reduce medical errors, thus improving quality of care.

The electronic medical records segment is by far the largest segment in the HIS market – valued at $3.4 billion in 2009 and expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3 percent over the next seven years.

Practice management is the second largest segment, valued at $1.2 billion in 2009 and growing at a CAGR of 10.8 percent over the same period. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE), pharmacy information systems (PIS) and laboratory information systems (LIS) are projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.1 percent, 9.7 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.

Current hospital systems are not delivering sufficiently safe, high-quality, efficient and cost-effective healthcare, according to the study, and computerization, with EMR at the center, is effectively the only way forward.

Physicians and healthcare organizations around the world looking to adopt more EMR technologies, and major companies in the market are vying for various collaborations to reach office-based physicians.

Governments in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Finland are implementing plans to build integrated computer-based national healthcare infrastructures based around the deployment of interoperable EMR systems. Many of these countries aim to have EMR systems deployed for their populations within the next 10 years.

The HIS market in the United States was valued at $2.6 billion in 2009 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.3 percent over the next seven years. Economic stimulus provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is expected to increase the adoption rates to 90 percent for physicians and 70 percent for hospitals in the United States.

Source: http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/global-his-market-grow-18b-2016

Urology is a surgical specialty where the doctor focuses on the urinary tract of humans and the reproductive organs of specifically males. EMR is an electronic medical record which has been developed to replace old school medical records. Urology EMR software has been developed to specifically assist doctors in this field.

EMR stands for Electronic Medical Record and is a computerized version of the old paper records and filing system.

The reason that many doctors are switching to electronic versions of medical records is mainly due to the amount of space they take up and the financial implications which come with old school paper records take up. In most places it is common law that medical records need to be held for at least seven years, this can become extremely costly to a doctors office if you add up the various materials it takes to create and upkeep medical records over that period of time.

Paper files can often require an art and some skill to locate and keep tract of. A busy doctors office accumulates hundreds of records and this can become complicated when you need to pull a certain patients file. By switching to EMR, you and your staff will be able to easily locate any file with one simple online search and a few clicks of a mouse.

Above are listed but a few of the many advantages of going online and switching to the electronic method of doing things. There are of course many more benefits that any office can experience such as increased legibility and less room for error, room is allowed for the standardization of medical terminology and abbreviations. These can also be used in medical research for data collection and storage.

One possible downfall of EMR software is that as with any technology it can be accessed by anyone with the power, will and know how. This can result in a problem with patient confidentiality. There are various laws which have been put in place to protect patient privacy so this should not be seen as too big of a concern. All current leading Urology EMR software solutions will have the best security measures in place.

Urology EMR or urology electronic medical records represent computer software available to capture access and store information in busy hospitals and clinics. Urology EMR focuses directly on those records related to urology specialists and patients.

Source: http://www.bmi-resources.com/why-is-urology-emr-so-important-to-urologists/

By Pamela Lewis Dolan,

The technology you adopt for your practice, including electronic medical record systems and smartphones, could become subject to Food and Drug Administration scrutiny. Experts are trying to discern what that level of examination might look like, and what specific technology would be affected.

So far, there’s no clear answer.

The FDA might get involved, experts say, because some kinds of health information technology could be considered medical devices — which the FDA regulates.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) started the high-level discussion about the FDA’s role in health IT in the context of meaningful use of EMRs and the push to get physicians to adopt technology. He sent a letter on Feb. 24 to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking what her agency intended to do to ensure the safety of EMRs, and the role the FDA should play in monitoring them.

The next day, an FDA director stated flatly: “Under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, HIT software is a medical device.”

Jeffrey Shuren, MD, director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, made that statement as he reported that his agency had received 260 reports over the past two years of health IT-related malfunctions causing 44 injuries and six deaths. Dr. Shuren’s statement was made to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, an advisory panel under the auspices of the HHS Office of the National Coordinator, which oversees health technology.

Steve Nitenson, RN, PhD, an adjunct professor in the information technology management division at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, said the FDA has a history of stepping up scrutiny after problems occur. Many believe that the number of deaths and complications Dr. Shuren detailed in his testimony to the advisory committee was an indication that the FDA now feels it is necessary to exercise its authority.

The discussion of FDA oversight has prompted a debate over what is considered a medical device, and what should and shouldn’t fall under FDA regulation.

Experts generally divide health-related applications into three categories — those that clearly could be considered a medical device, those that clearly are not, and those that could go either way.

Nitenson said the FDA already monitors EMR functionalities that involve contact with patients, such as interpreting lab results, for example. Most experts agree that even smartphone applications that are an extension of those systems fall under the medical device category and are thus open to FDA scrutiny.

But when it comes to other uses of technology, “It’s more like the wild, wild West,” Nitenson said. This is the area that would include a combination of systems that would transmit data from one source to another, and the various devices used to store and transmit the data, including mobile devices such as smartphones.

Michael Zeinfeld, founder and president of Complemedia, a Chicago-based company that builds targeted media channels for branding purposes, said one reason the FDA is taking another look at many of these devices is that their mobile counterparts are making applications easier to adopt, and thus the mobile devices are used more widely.

Kyle Heppenstall is the managing director of CompassX Group, a life sciences management consulting firm in Irvine, Calif., that helps clients get systems validated with various federal agencies. His clients include corporations, health care firms, and biotech and pharmaceutical companies that are building technology systems for the consumer market. He advises them that those systems need to be validated, even when they are mobile extensions of existing systems that already are monitored by the government.

Heppenstall said the cost of developing a regulated system could be up to three times more expensive than developing systems that are not regulated. “That is an additional burden that would have to be [paid for] by the owner of the system,” he said.

Particularly with smartphone applications — many of which are inexpensive to develop and cost nothing to download — most experts agree that the cost of developing FDA-compliant applications and software would stifle innovation.

“Finally there’s a place where doctors can go, and health care professionals can go, to get these tools and resources, and you don’t want to make it more difficult for innovation to happen,” Zeinfeld said. “And you shouldn’t have to make it more difficult. Certainly, there’s got to be some middle ground.”

On the other hand, Nitenson, who has worked clinically in emergency and intensive care departments, said, “I would never use, nor would I recommend, [that] a physician use software technology that is specifically designed around a smartphone device that is not strong enough to endure both the HHS mandates and the FDA’s mandate of data security and integrity for medical devices.”

Most experts agree that full oversight of all health information systems likely never would happen. The cost would be too high, and the scope of regulation would be too vast.

But Dr. Shuren did lay out some possible scenarios, most of which would involve tracking problems after a device or software has hit the market. For example, there could be a database of adverse effects, or a registration list of devices. Another option might be a requirement that developers adhere to the FDA’s Quality Systems Regulation, a list of specific guidelines manufacturers must follow.

Nintenson thinks there must be consequences if FDA oversight is to have an impact.

“As long as there is no consequence, people who write software don’t necessarily do things in a more secure manner,” he said.

Above article publish on

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/05/24/bica0524.htm

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

CIOs rank electronic medical records projects higher than IT managers and directors, who are focused on PC refreshes.

With $20 billion-plus worth of meaningful use bonuses from the government at stake for their organizations, E-medical records and electronic ordering systems are the top IT priorities for hospital CIOs over the next two years, according to a survey.

However, among hospital IT managers and directors, EMR projects ranked further down on the IT priority list, with only 25% naming those initiatives as “most important” for their organization over the next two years.

The survey of 178 respondents, including 36 CIOs and 142 IT directors and managers at hospitals with 200 or more beds, was commissioned by HP and conducted earlier this year by research firm NewGrowth Consulting.

The survey was designed to ask about hospital IT leaders’ IT priorities and plans, especially those initiatives involving PCs.

Among CIOs surveyed, 58% named EMR systems as their most important IT project over the next 24 months, while computerized physician order entry came in at a close second, named by 56%.

Respondents could choose more than one answer.

The CIO results are in synch with the biggest theme in healthcare IT today — the federal government’s push for hospitals and doctor practices to implement EMR, CPOE, and other e-health systems over the next several years.

Under the HITECH portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February 2009, the federal government plans to begin in 2011 rewarding healthcare providers with more than $20 billion over the next several years for their meaningful use of health IT systems such as EMR and CPOE.

Coming in third among top IT priorities of hospital CIOs was security initiatives, named by 47% of respondents, followed by database initiatives, with 42%. Other IT projects on the CIO priority list include bar-coded medication administration (36%); hospital expansion (33%); PC refresh (31%); and thin client/PC virtualization (31%).

However, further down the hospital IT leadership totem pole, IT management priorities — where PCs were involved — differed somewhat from those of CIOs.

Hospital IT managers and directors named PC refresh (51%); security initiatives (42%); and CPOE (37%) as their top IT projects for the next 24 months. That was followed by hospital expansion (34%); BCMA (33%); and database initiatives (30%).

Among hospital IT managers and directors surveyed, EMR ranked 7th, being named by 25% of the respondents. The survey also found that nearly two-thirds of hospital CIOs planned PC virtualization for some of their client hardware.

Also, nearly six in 10 hospital CIOs said their organizations did not have a telemedicine program, while 41% said their hospitals did have such initiatives underway. Most CIOs with telemedicine programs plan to expand those efforts in the next 24 months.

Above article publish on http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/EMR/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700871