EMRs for idiots–a primer.
Monday, June 1st, 2009
This is EMR week at the PookieMD blog. I will give a short primer on some terms, and later in the week will have a guest post by a surgeon that loves her EMR.
Terms to know:
IT: Information technology. (Hey, we’re starting from the ground up!)
EMR: Electronic medical record, used by health care professionals, replaces the paper chart.
PHR: Personal health record–a record, usually electronic, kept by an individualto keep track of his/her health. May be presented to physicians/care givers, but does not take the place of the patient’s medical record.
Web Hosted EMR: in which the software for the EMR is web based, and the data base of patient records is stored on a server out side of the physician’s office. Technical aspects of the server is managed by the company to which the practice pays a monthly fee. (Think of it as leasing a car.) This is also known as SaaS–software as a service.
Client/Server EMR: in which the practice buys a server (think of this as a computer where all the patient records are stored) , and buys a license to the EMR software. The practice is in charge of maintaining and backing up the server, and updating the software, as well as fixing any bugs in the system. In addition, the practice should keep back ups of data OFF SITE. (Think of this option as buying a car.)
ASP: application service provider–the company that provides the physician office with the EMR software, server to hold the data base, and provides software upgrades, help desk support, daily database back ups and server maintenance.
CCHIT: Certified Commission for Healthcare Information Technology–”private nonprofit organization with the sole public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology by creating a credible, efficient certification process.”
Work stations: the computer at which you, the care giver, will be entering your notes. This could be a tablet PC, a notebook PC or a traditional desk top. Both Web hosted and Client/Server vendors require the practice to own their own workstations.
Printers: duh. The practice will still need printers, scanners and faxes hooked into the work stations.
e-Prescribing: in which a prescription is entered electronically to a pharmacy, rather than giving a patient a hand written copy. Usually, a part of the EMR. (Buyer beware: class II narcotics and certain other drugs can not be prescribed via e-prescribing!)
I poked around at a couple of sites, and was frustrated that most required me to fill out a request for email/address/phone in order to try the demo. I think that when looking for an EMR, I definitely want to be able to preview one before talking to a rep. AND, I would NOT have an office manager or nurse make the decision as to which EMR to go with or even which one to demo! As the chief user, I think this is a physician level decision, not an office manager decision. Helpful website: Fierce Healthcare. Lots of news here on health care management and IT.