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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]