EMR Implementation & HITECH Act Blog
A blog for doctors and medical office staff seeking assistance with EMR and the HITECH Act.
Category Archives: HIT
2010
Research Shows That Electronic Medical Records Save Babies’ Lives
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We talk a lot in this blog about the financial aspects of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), and with good reason – they can entail a substantial investment in time and money. But it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the purpose of all that investment – to save lives.
2010
Massachusetts Receives $24 Million in HIT Funding
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Massachusetts, long a leader in the delivery of quality medical care to its citizens, has just received more than $24 million from the federal government to speed the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) throughout the Commonwealth.
Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, HIT
Tagged: EHR Privacy, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, EMR Implementation, HIT, Meaningful Use
2009
The Acronyms of HITECH: What Do They All Mean? (Part 1)
The effort to create an NHIN and implement electronic medical records/electronic health records (EMR/EHRs) available through RHIOs while still complying with HIPAA has created an alphabet soup of terms, acronyms and initials in various combinations.
To help you sort out what all these terms mean, we have created a short glossary. This is Part 1 (Part 2 will be published tomorrow). Because almost everything here seems to be subject to change, this will be a living document of sorts.
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2009
CPOEs, EHRs and Massachusetts Law
Massachusetts takes its electronic health records (EHRs) very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that last year it passed a law requiring hospitals to use EHRs and doctors to be competent using EHRs by 2015. The same law also mandated hospital use of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems by October 1, 2012.
The law, signed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, also created and funded the Massachusetts e-Health Institute (MeHI) to be the guiding force behind the implementations of Electronic Health Records and CPOE. Part of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), a statewide development agency, MeHI is already looking at EHRs for use in Massachusetts hospitals.
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Filed under: CPOE, EHR, Electronic Health Records, HIT, HITECH Act
Tagged: CPOE, EHR, Electronic Health Records, HITECH Act
2009
New Organization, Credential Created For Health IT Professionals
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As more and more doctor’s offices add staff to help implement electronic medical records (EMR), a common complaint is that its hard to know when someone has the skills to do the job. Until now, there has been no standardized credential that says a job applicant knows not just about computers and health information technology (HIT) but also about the business of running a medical practice.
Filed under: Electronic Medical Records, HIT, Implementation
Tagged: CHISP Certification, EMR Implementation, HIT Implementation
2009
Want Proof That HIT and EMRs Can Work?
We know that many of you are asking if, at the end of the day, Health Information Technology (HIT) will really work. What benefits will you see after investing all this time and money in HIT? Well, we can say that not only can HIT work, but it can provide powerful, tangible benefits.
To see how well HIT can work, look no further than the Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA), a group of four clinics in rural Washington State. CBHA serves roughly 25,000 patients per year — about half of whom are low income — in a 3600 square mile area. The entire CBHA system is paperless and has migrated 100 percent to electronic medical records (EMRs).
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Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, HIT
Tagged: Health Information Technology, HIT, HIT Benefits, HIT EMR Integration
2009
RHIOs: The Glue That Will Hold HIT Together
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Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) will serve as an infrastructure for – and enable sharing of — electronic health information. A RHIO is designed to pull together all of the organizations, facilities and individuals in the race to computerize health data. Implementers such as hospitals, medical offices, laboratories, payers, insurers and patients all have a stake and must have their issues taken into account. That’s where RHIOs come in.
2009
Listen to HITECH Act Podcast from Massachusetts Health Data Consortium CEO
The Massachusetts Health Data Consortium has decades of experience bringing regional medical providers together to encourage innovation and collaboration. To get their perspective on the HITECH Act and electronic health records (a.k.a. electronic medical records), I spoke with the MHDC’s CEO, Ray Campbell. Listen to what Campbell has to say about this “messy … chaotic transition” that will form the foundation of any future health care system in this country.
Gretchen Siegchrist
PC Healthstop Blogging Team
Filed under: Electronic Health Records, HIT, HITECH Act
Tagged: EHR, HIPAA, HIT, HITECH Incentives, HITECH Privacy, HITECH timelines
2009
The Acronyms of HITECH: What Do They All Mean? (Part 2)
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We ended our blog posts in 2009 addressing a common dilemma: how do you wade through the alphabet soup of acronyms surrounding the HITECH Act? A single sentence can contain tons of upper case letters which you may or may not be 100% familiar with. To help you sort out what all these terms mean, we created a short glossary. We begin 2010 with Part 2 (Part 1 is here). Because HITECH-related terminology is evolving, this will be a living document of sorts. If you see one we missed, or one whose definition has changed, let us know and we’ll do our best to keep it current.
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