EMR

EHRs may not be all that after all

by

The New York Times: “Computerized patient records are unlikely to cut health care costs and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often, a study published on Monday concludes. …research published Monday in the Journal Health Affairs found that doctors using computers to track tests, like X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging, ordered far … Read more

Shareable Ink plus EHR equals interesting alternative

by

EMR Daily News: “Shareable Ink®, an enterprise cloud computing company that transforms paper documentation to structured data, today announced three new partnerships with leading EHR vendors that will further the company’s reach in delivering a reliable, portable and easy to implement electronic data capture solution that works with existing physician workflows. The agreements with Greenway … Read more

Accurate Assessment of Adherence (man vs. machine) [abstract]

by

A recent article in Chest1 demonstrates the value of electronic data collection in medication adherence. In this case it was inhalation therapy in cystic fibrosis patients. This type of article is important as we consider the future of electronic health records and where the data for such records should come. Remember, people are notoriously unreliable historians while computers don’t lie.

Read more

EHRs may not be the panacea many are hoping for

by

Selected excerpts from post-gazette.com article: More and more studies are questioning the efficacy of electronic health records, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun collecting reports involving electronic health and IT errors, some of which have resulted in death… “The thing about these systems is that it doesn’t really look like they’re getting … Read more

Patients still not diggin’ the idea of an EHR

by

EHR outlook: “Patients are still worried about how secure their data will be when stored in an EHR systems, a new study suggests. Xerox Corporation found that of 2,720 poll respondents: 80% were concerned with stolen personal information 64% were concerned with lost, damaged or corrupted files 62% were concerned with the misuse of information” I’m … Read more

Revisiting the idea of Shareable Ink

by

EMR and HIPAA: “The interesting thing about Shareable Ink is that they provide such an interesting middle ground between a technical solution and continuation of paper. I remember about 5 years ago when I heard someone describe the perfect clinical documentation system. It was completely flexible. Required little to no training. Supported every possible documentation style. etc etc etc. Then, they acknowledged that what was being described was the paper chart. It was then that I recognized that while EMR can provide some benefits that paper charts can’t provide, paper charts also had some advantages that would be difficult to provide using an EMR.

I think this background is why I found the Shareable Ink approach to documentation so fascinating. I really see it as an interesting way to try and capture the benefits of granular data elements and electronic capture of the data while still enjoying the benefits of paper.

My simplified explanation of the Shareable Ink technology is as follows. You print out a form that you want to use for the patient visit. Each page that’s printed out has a unique background (although it just looks like a colored page to the naked eye). When you use the Shareable Ink pen to write on the printed out page, the pen uses a camera to record what you wrote on that page and where you wrote it. Then, once you sync the pen it recreates the document you wrote on in the system.”

Read more

Integration of medical device data into EMRs

by

EMR Daily News: “Recording and charting changes in vital signs has been identified as one of the core areas that will be measured for meaningful use incentives. The new Intelligent Medical Devices HIMSS Analytics white paper, sponsored by Lantronix (NASDAQ: LTRX), and posted on the HIMSS Analytics website, details progress on these efforts. The research suggests that just one-third of hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics sample on medical device utilization indicated they had an active interface between medical devices at their organization and their electronic medical record (EMR).”

Read more

EMR data exchange with web services (article)

by

I came across an interesting article recently in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology1. The article discusses the difficulties in designing an EMR system capable of providing optimal access to data elements while remaining efficient and user friendly.  It was a good look at the current state of healthcare data exchange.

Abstract:

This paper discusses how to share medical information between heterogeneous applications via web services. Our design theory is based on a real-options framework, performance analysis and experience building iRevive, a working web-services-enabled pre-hospital documentation application. The trade-offs between efficiency and flexibility are examined in the context of exchanging information based on emerging standards in the healthcare world. These trade-offs are quantified using a real-options approach. We illustrate the importance of uncertainty in deciding the architecture enabling an application to access medical information from Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).

Read more