EHR Technology

For small practices, implementing an EHR and achieving meaningful use is a whole lot easier with a helping hand. Newly created regional extension centers are there to provide it. Here’s how to make the best of them.

A few months ago, we posted some of our readers' top questions on the topics of EHRs and meeting meaningful use with answers directly from CMS. In response, several of you sent us new questions to ask the Federal agency on your use of the technology and how to be in the best position to receive federal incentive payments. Here are your answers.

Anyone who thinks that physicians' slow adoption of EHRs makes them modern-day Luddites hasn't seen a doc with an iPad. Tablet computing does seem uniquely suited to healthcare, and physicians are warming quickly to the intuitive gizmos. But will tablets revolutionize medical practice - and yours?

Here's some simple guidance on how to comply with the Stage One initiatives of CMS' meaningful use initiatives and achieve meaningful use of your EHR.

The current ballyhoo over EHR has interrupted what would have otherwise been a gradual evolution of EHR with the most effective, easiest to use products winning out over time. A fork in the road has developed and two possible futures for EHR are now before us.

To stay safe and weed out the billing and collections problems stifling your practice's revenue stream, our experts recommend a "bottom-to-top" assessment of your entire billing operation.

There's a real shift in EHR vendors' attitudes. It seems that the small-sized practice's moment has arrived.

Can your new EHR play nice with your old practice management system? Or should you just replace them both at the same time?

Windows (in the generic sense) provide an organizing theme (a metaphor if you like) that takes multi-tasking out of the geek realm and makes it more understandable to the general public, thereby helping them to unlock the power of the computer.

The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, is the roadmap for healthcare reform for the next decade. The legislation includes several initiatives that will impact the way physicians operate and change their everyday business practices. Here is a year-by-year outline of the biggest benchmarks that will affect physician practices.

You've probably heard of state and regional Health Information Exchanges, but what the heck are they, exactly, and can they be of any use to your practice?

Is staff mediocrity costing you money? Here's how to fix it.

The Office of Inspector General included "identical notes" as an area of interest in its 2011 Work Plan. Make sure your patient notes reflect each unique encounter.

Every provider and practice administrator thinks his or her staff is above average, so they frequently take the recommended training intervals and cut them way down. But chances are even - 50/50, to be precise - that your staff is below average, and that it will actually take more , not less, time to become fully productive with a new EHR system.

How an EHR behaves is highly dependent on design and other technical properties of the underlying hardware and software. These basic properties are essentially unalterable and can have lasting, and often negative, effects on what a product can do today and whether physicians will find it easy to understand and pleasant to use.

Looking for the best defense against possible litigation? According to plaintiffs' attorneys, good communication and proper documentation are your best weapons when legal action threatens. Here's the inside scoop on how to protect yourself against lawsuits, straight from the people who make a living filing them.

Want to get your physicians enthused about your new EHR? Nix the big educational lectures and set a good example.

To cash in on federal incentives, you need the right equipment and a good understanding of what it means for your EHR to be certified. Here's your primer.

Are health IT vendors ready to supply the marketplace with products enabled to meet the government's requirements for meaningful use of EHRs?

Can Your EHR Reduce Your Risk? Yes, say our experts, when used correctly. Here's your guide to using your EHR to better protect yourself against malpractice suits.

Can your EHR increase your risk? Yes, when used incorrectly. Here are potential technology pitfalls that can expose your practice to new malpractice risks.

A lot of practices have decided to adopt electronic health records because they “have to.” They want the stimulus money, and they know that down the road, they will be punished (financially) for not using one. And many physicians, especially the ones who have been practicing for over a decade, are doing so kicking and screaming.

Making the leap to adopting an EHR is a daunting task for those practices that are still using paper. After choosing your EHR wisely and incorporating each feature into your daily workflow, you will then be able to add this powerful tool to your clinical arsenal and provide more efficient care to your patients.

Electronic records require regular upgrades. Don't be fooled into thinking you can get by on the cheap.

Risks like security breaches, privacy violations, and misplaced patient information all need to be addressed when you adopt new technologies at your practice, say the co-authors of a book on "E-Health Hazards."

There is no question that the tablet computer is the coolest new computing gadget since the smart phone. But is it cool for EHR?

Made your choice? That’s only part of the battle. Now you have to get it running. Our preparation checklist should help.

As the landscape of medicine continues to change with increasing incentives from the federal government to move toward using an EHR in a meaningful way, there is no better time than the present to adopt an EHR for your practice.

Good tech support staff is crucial to achieving successful EHR implementation and other priorities like interoperability. Here’s how to find the health IT support you need.

Want to learn more on how to meet "meaningful use" from someone who has already received $42,500 in federal incentives? Let an Oklahoma practice show you how it's done.