Electronic medical record systems have recently become a hot topic in a majority of medical offices and clinics across the United States. The American...
Electronic medical record systems have recently become a hot topic in a majority of medical offices and clinics across the United States. The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009 made this transformation,
as a large amount of cash has been earmarked to help subsidize the use of electronic medical records software within the Healthcare Industry. A large number of new applications have been born as a result, as well as new companies anxious for a piece of the new spending.
Very few sections of the software industry include as much of an "embarrassment of riches" when it comes to vendor choice. With the aforementioned Government money available to all doctors, however, the EMR system sector does, indeed, fit that category. New vendors abound, this sector continues to grow as the Government moves to make electronic medical records a part of every medical practice. To begin your selections, cut your list of potential vendors down to five or less, then consider these points:
1. CCHIT Certification Means Quality - In response to the huge interest in the development of EMR software systems, the industry constructed a commission known as CCHIT (or the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology) in order to create standards for medical records software. Acquiring CCHIT-certification isn't inexpensive or easy, which is why it's practically a guarantee that you're working with a well-tested software and company as the industry has. Step away from non-CCHIT certified developers from the start, and your shortlist will be far more best of breed.
2. "Meaningful Use", And Its Great Importance - Of all factors, having a shop with superior knowledge of the Government's concept of "meaningful use" is key when looking into an EMR system purchase. As part of the Government stimulus offer, physicians must show "meaningful use" of electronic medical records software, which isn't as easy as it looks. As with anything Government-created, there is a lot of small print to work through to ensure you can qualify for the lion's share of Medicare incentives. Ensure you ask your potential developers for their approach to "meaningful use", and require that they show recent references of customers whose meaningful use claim was successful.
3. Keep It Simple - Outside of meaningful use and CCHIT-certification, no aspect is more key for your practice than your system's ease of use. Keeping it simple, obviously, will save you more time and expense than you expected. The savings are all there: an easy to use EMR application is embraced quicker by your staff, learned quicker, and is less likely to provide "confusing moments" once the installation has taken place and the software is live. This can cut the cost of training your staff with the software markedly, and can save your practice countless support call costs in the future. The fact is, people like simple to operate products, and embrace them faster. When you think about ease of use, you don't have to be an expert: just use your gut. Once you've built your 4-5 electronic medical records vendor shortlist, download all of their software demos. Install them on your system (if there's no Windows support, you may want to not bother!) , work with them for about an hour each, and see how you feel. Make your shortlist shorter by removing the more difficult technologies.
Making a decision on electronic medical record software product for your practice or clinic is far from easy, but as subsidies begin to expire and penalties soon to arrive, adopting now is critical to your practice. Ensure your EMR systems company has a wide array of industry knowledge, and years of experience with software development, and you can be certain half the battle has been won.
