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The Medical Records Institute News blog has moved to a new location. Visit us at: http://www.medrecinst.com/News/MRIBlog.php

Medical Transcription and EMRs: Opportunity Lost?

The future of the medical transcription industry is discussed in Claudia Tessier's article for our September eNewsletter. In the article Tessier states:

When considering information capture choices, practitioners and administrators must carefully consider not just current needs but also future goals...The typical conclusion is: Let doctors use any method they want to use, while offering/encouraging adoption of methods that facilitate point-of-care and real-time documentation. Traditional medical transcription continues to be the choice of many physicians, especially among those who have routinely been using this form of documentation throughout their career, but is it the best choice for healthcare? And if it is, for how long will it continue to be?

[read the full article here]

Does your facility use medical transcription? How will the widespread adoption of EMRs effect the transcription industry? Does medical transcription have a future?

Interview with Robert Berger, MD

In our September eNewsletter, Robert Berger, MD shares his experiences creating a direct-entry note EMR. The system, called WEBCIS, is now in use by roughly 10,000 healthcare professionals at his facility. The successful adoption of WEBCIS has saved time and money, and improved the quality of care at the facility. Would the WEBCIS system work at your practice? Do you have questions for Dr. Berger?

[read the full interview here]

EMR/EHR/PHR and Beyond Audiocast

EMR/EHR/PHR and Beyond (8/28/08) discussed key terms in health IT and how they releate to the progression of the field.

Do you have a question for presenter Peter Waegemann (CEO, Medical Records Institute)? Discuss the presentation by posting a comment.

Discussion: EMR Boot Camp Audiocast

EMR Boot Camp for Physician's in Practice (8/21/08) discussed ideas and concepts important to EMR adoption including:

• Issues pushing EMR adoption
  
• EMRs and Security Issues
  
• Methods of Information Capture
  
• Necessary EMR Content
  
• Key EMR Components
  
• Success factors in EMR adoption

Do you have a question for presenter Claudia Tessier (Vice President, Medical Records Institute)? Discuss the presentation by posting a comment.

The Next Big Wave is m-Health: Smart Phones in Healthcare

Peter Waegemann forecasts the role of cell phones in healthcare in the August edition of MRI's eNewsletter. He says that, "the new cell phone-based applications (also known as mobile health or m-Health) have the potential to become the single most effective driver for the health IT industry."

Before this can happen, Waegemann states that six conditions must be met:

1. A universal platform must be available that allows all kinds of cell phones to be used.
2. Such a platform has to work with all telecommunications carriers
3. There must be consensus on the data set
4. Storage and communication has to be safe and secure
5. Phones and systems must be user friendly (think of elderly people requiring special phones with large buttons, for example)
6. Consumers, patients, physicians, healthcare professionals must see the benefits of these applications, trust the systems, and like using the healthcare applications.
7. Software developers must provide an attractive, beneficial range of specific applications for cell phones.

How important do you think cell phones will be in the future of healthcare?

[read the full article here]

Incorporating HIT into Physician Practices

Dr. Eugenia Marcus shared her thoughts on health IT in physician practices in the August edition of our eNewsletter. Dr. Marcus has been a practicing pediatrician for more than 30 years. She is chair of the information Technology Committee for Massachusetts Medical Society, vice-chair of the Council on Clinical Information Technology of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and co-chair of the Child Health workgroup of CCHIT.

From the interview:

We installed an EMR in our office in 1996. Because of the installation, our office runs efficiently and we are improving our operations regularly with the increasing features of the EMR. We have less staffing. We can access the EMR from anywhere. No more lost charts. School and camp forms are generated at the click of a button.

Share you thoughts/questions/experiences on physician EMR/EHR implementations.

[read the full interview here]

Wrong National Strategy for EMRs?

In MRI's first eNewsletter, CEO Peter Waegemann questions the current national strategy for EMRs. He cites the following 5 issues as the key areas that need to be corrected:

-Cost
-Information Capture
-Legality
-Information Exchange
-Continuity of Care

According to Waegemann, "It is time for all the committees, associations, and others who are touting EMRs to confront this dismal picture of health IT implementation and the reasons behind it."

[read the full article here]

What are your thoughts?

Using Smartphones & PDAs in Emergency Medicine

In MRI's first eNewsletter, we interviewed John Pringle, program manager for electronic documentation for the city of San Diego Fire and Rescue department. Pringle has played an integral role in the development of TapChart, San Diego's PDA-based information capture system, which has been used by EMS responders in the city for the past decade. John spoke on this topic at TEPR 2008 and will be doing an update at TEPR+ 2009 as well as organizing presentations there on EMS implementations of electronic medical records.

From the interview:

Until 1997, EMS responders [in San Diego] recorded all patient encounter information on paper Scantron “bubble” forms, which were often lost, incomplete, or illegible. In response to these problems, the San Diego Medical Services Enterprise (SDMSE) – a public/private partnership formed between the city of San Diego Fire Rescue and Rural/Metro Ambulance – developed TapChart, software that allows responders to collect 9-1-1 emergency patient information electronically on handheld Palm smartphones. By transferring documentation to handheld devices, reports became more accurate, legible, faster and easier to complete.

The [development of TapChart] has proven that smartphones and PDAs can be very effective cost saving tools for emergency workers. After witnessing SDMSE’s success, many other San Diego area agencies have gone the route of implementing PDA based patient reports. TapChart has been so vital to SDMSE’s financial success that it has proven to be a necessary business practice for any future paramedic ambulance service in San Diego.

Does your community use a similar technology? Do you see greater benefits in the San Diego system? What questions do you have for John Pringle about TapChart's development and the pros and cons of its implementation?

[read the full interview here]

Health IT Audiocasts offered by MRI

Medical Records Institute is introducing a series of online educational programs for 2008. These programs offer quality and breadth of information featured at our traditional shows, but with the convenience of an online course. Programs have been designed to be topical—covering the range of topics currently affecting healthcare IT—and to target a range of professions, from physicians and office managers interested in purchasing their first EMR to health IT professional curious about current industry trends.

Each one-hour program is aired live and will be accessible to registrants on our website after the live-air date. Conference listings (at right) contain program descriptions, speaker backgrounds, and targeted audience information. Visit our website for more information or to register.

The following topics will be offered:

• EMR Boot Camp (8/21/08)
  
• EMR/EHR/PHR and Beyond (8/28/08)
  
• Cell Phones in Healthcare (9/24/08)
  
• How to Select and EMR (10/1/08)
  
• Is your EMR System Legal? (10/21/08)
  
• Road to Electronic Healthcare (10/30/08)
  
• The Next Generation of PHR Systems (11/13/08)
  
• Consumer Health Movement (12/17/08)
  
• The 2009 Revolution in HIT (1/15/08)

MRI Introduces TEPR+

Introducing TEPR+
Innovation. Vision. Growth.

Through 25 years of TEPR, Medical Records Institute has played a guiding role in the progression towards electronic health records and just as healthcare IT grown through these years, so has our vision for TEPR. In 2009 Medical Records Institute (MRI) will introduce TEPR+, the evolution of the Towards the Electronic Patient Record Conference.

TEPR+ promises the innovative thinking, new technologies, and practical ideas that you’ve come to expect from TEPR, but with a wider focus on the range of healthcare IT solutions both currently available and developing. We’ll provide more programming on the difficulties that arise with the incorporation of IT and discuss the cutting-edge technologies that will change the way we understand health IT today. TEPR+ – the evolution of TEPR and the future of health IT.

New TEPR Award for EMRs Best Meeting Medicolegal Requirements

Standards and requirements for electronic health records systems remain in active development through the continuing efforts of multiple organizations including ASTM, HL7, and HITSP. Currently, though, the burden of proof (and risk) that a given EMR meets comprehensive requirements remains entirely on the purchaser. Furthermore, there are few resources for those who do take the time to execute a more robust due-diligence effort in comparing and contrasting higher level attributes as part of their selection process.

The Medical Records Institute, in association with recognized experts in EMR functional assessments, have developed a new initiative to highlight key attributes of EMRs to support fundamental medical-legal requirements of medical records as business records. This initiative grew out of concerns about purchaser and user awareness of medical-legal gaps in health IT, including assuring that an EMR can meet basic requirements such as retention of the original version of an altered record as required by medical records best practices and standards such as the American National Standard ASTM Designation: E 2017 – 99 (Reapproved 2005) Standard Guide for Amendments to Health Information. EMR developers note that such requirements are often absent from purchaser/user demands.

While undoubtedly requirements will become increasingly robust over time, the push to implement EMRs, especially in the United States, has made these basic medical-legal gaps all the more risk-laden for those who may not fully evaluate systems they are buying, and who may not fully mitigate gaps in their current systems’ abilities to support such basic medical records functions.

By highlighting the existence of EMRs that are well-designed in their support of these attributes, it is hoped to improve market transparency for medical-legal requirements as a core requirement for EMRs, thereby facilitating both improved selection and implementation of EMRs and speeding the uptake of systems by reducing their potential medical-legal risk.

This new TEPR Award is the first major effort to challenge EMR vendors to demonstrate that their products meet a range of EMR medicolegal requirements, including identity and authentication, document version management, signature events, data integrity and document event auditing functions.

Candidates for the award (who must be TEPR exhibitors) will complete a questionnaire designed by a team of independent attorneys, legal experts, and EMR and health information management professionals. For more information about TEPR and the TEPR awards see www.TEPR.com or contact Claudia Tessier: Claudia@medrecinst.com. Vendors seeking information about TEPR exhibits should contact Michael Lawrence at 617-964-3923 x217 or Michael@medrecinst.com.

TEPR Program Online

The 2008 TEPR expanded online program is now available! Click here to view the full program, read session descriptions, speaker biographies, and more! We'll be updating it daily so check regularly for the most up-to-date information.

Electronic Health Records: The Benefits of Digitalized Treatment.

Peter Waegemann, MRI's CEO was interviewed for this article on EMRs published by Columbia University: Electronic Health Records: The Benefits of Digitalized Treatment.

Open Source Technologies Sessions at TEPR 2008

Interested in Learning about Open Source Technologies and the Future of Health IT?

The 2008 TEPR Conference will explore whether the future will bring a switch from proprietary software to scalable open source solutions. Among TEPR 2008 offerings are several sessions showcasing open source technologies— the hot topic for hospitals and practices alike. The disruptive nature of these collaboratively developed healthcare information technology solutions is changing how organizations think about future health IT systems. This is just one of the fresh ideas TEPR addresses in depth.

TEPR 2008 is bigger and better than ever, offering you the most relevant Health IT conference among many. Our comprehensive educational programming will expose you to different perspectives and new ideas on how to address the complex issues affecting healthcare technology.

With TEPR 2008 just 9 weeks away, plan your trip to Ft. Lauderdale today! Opening its doors on May 19, 2008 in upscale Fort Lauderdale, TEPR anticipates up to 5,000 attendees, with over 400 speakers. Brochures are in the mail and will arrive shortly. But don’t wait: For more information and online registration, see www.tepr.com.

Interested in exploring Open Source Technologies at TEPR? Be sure not to miss these sessions:

Open Source Systems, Learned about available open source systems; as for the pros and cons of using open source software (8L, Wed, May 21, 2008, 8:00-9:30 am) Open Source Systems continued (9L, Wed, May 21, 2008, 10:30-12:00 pm)

Open Source Systems, Lost Opportunities (10LL, Wed, May 21, 2008, 2:00-5:00 pm)

MedSphere, Military, The VA Vista System (9C, Wed, May 21, 2008, 10:30-12:00 pm)

Open Source Vista Systems (10C, Wed, May 21, 2008, 2:00-5:00 pm)

Open Source: Disruptive Healthcare Improvement Technology (4Z, Tues, May 20, 2008, 8:00-9:30 am) Open Source: Disruptive Healthcare Improvement Technology, continued (5Q, Tues., May 20, 2008, 10:15-12:00 pm)

Road Shows Cancelled

MRI has canceled its current EMR Road Show programs until further notice. We will be re-evaluating the programming, its goals, and the evolving needs of our target audience to offer new programs in the future. More information will follow in the fall of 2008. Please contact us with any questions: 617-964-3923

MRI Launches HIT ConsultantCompare

HIT ConsultantCompare launched!

Medical Records Institute announced last week that we’ve expanded our Compare programs with the addition of the new HIT ConsultantCompareSM

In February 2008 we launched the newly designed HIT ConsultantCompare program – developed to guide ambulatory and inpatient providers in selecting consultants to assist them in the transition to, utilization of, and expansion of health IT and EMRs in their settings. This program provides free, unbiased, independent and transparent comparisons of health IT and EMR consultants. Similar to EMRCompare, which allows comparison of EMR products, HIT ConsultantCompare helps potential clients compare and select consultants to assist them in selecting, implementing, managing, or otherwise working with

• EMR/EHR systems
• e-Prescribing systems
• Practice management systems
• Data document storage, retrieval and destruction
• Patient portals
• Personal health records (PHRs)
• Continuity of Care Record (CCR)
• RHIO interoperability or health information exchange
• Document management/scanning
• Dictation/transcription/speech recognition
• Other healthcare documentation methods
• Hardware/software
• Workflow engineering
• Security/Coding/reimbursement/compliance
• Joint Commission preparation
• Strategic Planning

In addition to identifying services provided, HIT ConsultantCompare also includes consultants' locations, years in business, speaking experience, contact information, and more.
Initial enrollees in HIT ConsultantCompare are:

• AC Group
• Carr Instructional Design
• The CCI Group
• Clinical Productivity Systems
• Dak Systems Consulting
• EMR Advisory Group LLC
• Health Informatics Consulting LLC
• Healthcare Tech Consulting
• HIMentors
• MRC Consulting Group

Interested in viewing HIT ConsultantCompare? Consultants interested in signing up? Visit:http://www.medrecinst.com/hitconsult/index.html

View the press release.

TEPR Develops Program for Nurses

In an effort to tailor our conference programming to specific demographics, MRI has been working with industry organizations to develop parts of TEPR's 2008 educational program. In one such instance, we've been working with nursing consultants to create a comprehensive health IT program targeted at nurses. The program has become so expansive that we've given it its own track. Nurses attending TEPR will be able to easily locate sessions targeted at them by attending any of the presentations within the Nursing Track. View the complete nursing program.


TEPR 2008 for Nurses
21st Century Nursing: Innovations across the Care Continuum

What to Expect? The Best of Both Worlds

Nurses at TEPR will experience both:

• A unique program track specifically designed for nurses by nurses together with
• The rich collective wisdom and networking opportunities only available at a conference with over twenty additional patient-centric tracks

A dose of inspiration and a dose of “how to”; evidence-based practice and real-world scenarios, big-picture concepts and down-to-earth examples, visionary lessons and practical advice – There are many ways to say it, yet what you can expect from TEPR is wisdom, ingenuity, and leadership helping to illuminate for you what is possible. In summary, TEPR offers a unique top-down and bottom-up blending: the best of both worlds.

The challenge will be choosing between the multiple simultaneous sessions: if you work in a hospital setting, there is another entire track here, if you are an advance practice nurse practitioner, you will need to choose from great simultaneous sessions, for example, in pediatrics, or ambulatory care.

Who Should Attend?

There is something for all nurses at TEPR across multiple care settings and disciplines for nursing practice, to administration, research, and education. Nursing executives, managers, advance practice nurse practitioners, clinical specialists, educators, nurse informatics leaders, nurse project managers, nurse and clinical analysts, along with patient care teams and all the vendors, consultants and others who support nurses are all encouraged to participate. All are needed for EHRs to succeed and for strategic and the practical needs of nurses to be met.

Why Should Nurses go to TEPR?

Patient Care or Paperwork: You Choose

• Where should we allocate precious and limited nursing resources?
• A large 2007 survey revealed over 80% of nurses today spend between 25-50% or more of their day on patient care documentation.
• Meet and learn from leaders in the field who are demystifying technology and developing new, patient-centric, relevant, streamlined, non-redundant, and timesaving documentation approaches.

The 81 Billion-dollar a Year Question: Are you being asked to do more with less?

• Did you know that the Rand Corporation Study says broad adoption of computerizing medical records could save America's health care system more than 81 billion annually while improving the quality of care?
• With nurses representing over half of the health care work force, nursing involvement and leadership are critical each step of the way on this journey.
• Connect with nurse leader who are a part of the solution healing both patients and the health care systems as new models of practice are being re-invented and redefined to leverage the potential of today's technology. Effective care processes and work environments are key to recruiting and retaining nurses in the 21st century and providing the level of quality required for magnet recognition and other care initiatives.
  

The Power of Networks: Technology and People

• In today’s fast-moving world, where else can the answers be found yet through others who have traveled down the same path?
• While the Internet and technology are great, powerful networks often have nothing to do with technical routers and switches and everything to do with people. Vendors developing software and services will be at TEPR, executives will be at TEPR, physicians will be at TEPR, policy leaders and decision-makers will be at TEPR, and Nurses …need to be at TEPR.
• Enjoy both the multi-disciplinary collaboration opportunities that abound for nurses and meet nurses leading innovative initiatives across the globe.

Recent News from MRI

There's been a lot going on at MRI in the past few months. A brief re-cap of the most recent happenings...

In February MRI launched HIT ConsultantCompare, the newest in MRI's series of Compare tools. HIT ConsultantCompare has been designed to guide ambulatory and impatient providers in selecting consultants to assist them in the transition to, utilization of, and expansion of health IT and EMR s in their settings. Similar to EMRCompare, which allows comparison of EMR products, HIT ConsultantCompare helps potential clients compare and select consultants assist them in selecting, implementing, managing or otherwise working with a wide range of health information technology tools. Initial companies enrolled include: AC Group, Carr Instructional Design, The CCI Group, Clinical Productivity Systems, Dak Systems Consulting, EMR Advisory Group, LLC, Health Informatics Consulting, LLC, Healthcare Tech Consulting, and HIMentors. View the press release.

In January the 2008 TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference program became available online. Developed by Medical Records Institute (MRI) CEO Peter Waegemann, the program will include twenty-five educational tracks and roughly 500 speakers addressing topics in 5 major categories: Hospitals, Payers, Physicians, Health IT Professionals, and Web-based Consumer Patient Systems including Digital Health Companions. The program will also feature a comprehensive track for Nurses and a pre-conference program for Pediatricians. Designed as "The Strategic and Practical Health IT Conference," TEPR's manageable size and comprehensive education program will distinguish it from the hundreds of other HIT events hosted every year. The Opening Session will be completely revamped along the theme "What will/should the next president do for Health IT." Other highlights include Microsoft's James Mault MD among the keynote speakers.

In November 2007 MRI CEO Peter Waegemann was chosen among Health Leaders' Magazine's "20 People who Make Healthcare Better." Published annually the article features members of the healthcare community who work to make proactive changes in the current and future state of healthcare. Listed alongside the future president of the United States, Waegemann is one of just two Health IT leaders honored. Congratuations Peter!

In October 2007 MRI released its annual Survey of Electronic Medical Record Trends and Usage (co-sponsored by Philips Speech Recognition Systems). This survey is an annual poll of IT usage among healthcare providers. A free summary of the survey is available on MRI's website. Among the publications that covered the survey:

• Modern Healthcare "Faliure, de-installation of EHRs abound: study"
• Healthcare Informatics "Physician Happiness Key to EMR Success"
• Future Healthcare "EMR Systems: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff"
• American Medical News "Doctors offer Views on EMR Implementation"
• Health Data Management "Survey Tracks EMR Use and Trends"

About TEPR 2008

Have you heard? The TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference has been revamped. We've worked hard over the past year to pinpoint what past attendees love about TEPR, what they want to see more of, and what topics aren't being addressed by other health IT conferences. For 2008 we've created a cutting-edge program full of case studies, presentations by industry experts and practical advice on all topics related to EMRs and health information technology. We know that there are a lot of health IT conferences on the market. Come to TEPR for the most comprehensive and topical educational program available and for a bit of fun and relaxation in upscale Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The TEPR Revolution

Over the past 23 years, TEPR has earned the reputation for being the leading annual educational conference and exhibition for health IT professionals and all others journeying Towards the Electronic Patient Record. The TEPR conference distinguishes itself from other events by providing new ideas, critical discussions of relevant topics, and practical advice you can’t find anywhere else.

Now in its 24th year, TEPR is making a good thing even better. By expanding the breadth and content of the educational program to 24 parallel sessions with a total of over 600 presentations, TEPR offers valuable information for all professionals in the healthcare industry.

TEPR 2008 has targeted six major market segments to create a comprehensive yet easy-to-navigate conference:

• Hospital professionals

• Physicians and practice managers

• Payers

• Professionals interested in the new health consumer field

• General health IT professionals

• Nurses

The educational focus for physicians centers on “How to attract and keep patients with IT”. The program for hospitals addresses fresh ideas from information capture that save millions of dollars to hospital marketing with IT projects. For the first time, a detailed program for payers addresses steps to real-time financial transaction to e-visit pay. And the most comprehensive health consumer program is the flagship programming of the new TEPR. The preliminary program is now available on our website.

Upcoming Events 2008

Medical Records Institute is excited to announce the upcoming events in 2008!

TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference 2008
May 17-21, 2008, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference is an international Health IT conference which attracts over 3,500 decision makers interested in keeping up-to-date on all the latest EHR developments. Now in its 24^th year, TEPR is widely recognized as the best annual educational conference and exhibition for health IT professionals and all others journeying Towards the Electronic Patient Record. Revamped for 2008, MRI presents TEPR 08: The Strategic and Practice Health IT Conference, which will cover a broader range of Health IT topics, from PDAs to EMRs; Mobile Computing to Voice Recognition Software. With 23 parallel educational tracks, hundreds of vendor exhibits, world renowned speakers, and presentations by industry experts, TEPR is an HIT event you don’t want to miss!

About Medical Records Institute News

Welcome to Medical Records Institute News, the most up-to-date source of information on Medical Records Institute’s events and services. Here you’ll find updates on MRI-sponsored events—including the TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference and EMR Road Show series—as well as press releases, media coverage, newsletter articles, and special web-only content on all developing news from Medical Records Institute.

About Medical Records Institute

For nearly 25 years, Medical Records Institute (MRI) has been a thought leading organization in the field of electronic medical records (EMRs) and health information technology (HIT). Through conferences—most notably the TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) Conference—surveys, publications, and online Compare programs MRI serves as an international forum for sharing knowledge, experience, and solutions with the healthcare community at large, but especially with healthcare practitioners, as well as professionals in information technology and health information management (HIM).

MRI founder and CEO Peter Waegemann and Vice President Claudia Tessier are both nationally recognized health IT experts with specific expertise in EMRs, EHRs, CCR, and Information Capture. Their regular contributions to industry publications, speaking engagements, and active involvement in industry organizations, make both Waegemann and Tessier respected thought leaders in the health IT community. The driving force behind MRI’s vision for the integration of technology into healthcare, this leadership keeps MRI an industry leading organization that, for nearly a quarter of a century, has provided guidance towards the progression of the ever evolving field of health information technology and electronic health records.