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Electronic health records prepare for their close-up

New financial incentives spark doctors, hospitals to ramp up digitization View all Vital Signs

April 13, 2010

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cashing-in-on-electronic-health-records-2010-04-13?dist=beforebell

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Coming soon to a doctor's office near you: Electronic health records. But it may take longer to find out whether broader use of health information technology lives up to its acronym and becomes a HIT.

While a few patients already are plugged in, many more soon may be able to go online to review certain medical test results, immunization lists and summaries of their office visits. They may turn to their computers instead of their telephones to make appointments and request medication refills.

Doctors may see relief from burdensome paperwork and new digitized checks and balances that help them improve quality while preventing costly medical errors and needless duplication of tests.

Such is the promise of electronic and personal health records, which are poised to get a shot in the arm thanks to last year's stimulus package. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, health-care providers stand to gain Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments worth $14 billion to $27 billion starting next year if they use health IT in a "meaningful" way, a definition that's still evolving.

At issue are both the substantial potential benefits of electronic health records and new risks. While some experts hail the advent of EHRs as a long overdue modernization and source of cost containment, critics say they're better at helping doctors handle billing and increasing their pay than they are at meeting patients' needs. Some also warn that wider adoption of commercial EHRs may freeze in place ways of caring for patients that are fast becoming obsolete and say doctors in small practices still face steep transitional hurdles.

Even so, few dispute the need to make a bigger national push toward broader use of information technology in health care. The Obama administration has said it wants every American to have access to an EHR by 2014, the same year many of the new health-reform law's major provisions such as coverage expansion to more uninsured people start to take effect.

"We're going to have to find more efficient ways ... to meet the needs of the newly insured," said Ann S. O'Malley, a doctor and senior researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington. "Health information technology will hopefully be one of the tools to help us practice more efficiently."

Others are more bullish given the amount of money that's on the table.

"We are at the beginning of the single fastest transformation of an industry in the history of the United States," said Glen Tullman, chief executive of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare, an EHR supplier in Chicago, Ill., and Raleigh, N.C.

A doctor works on a laptop computer.

Glenn Laffel, Boston-based senior vice president of clinical affairs for Practice Fusion, which provides an advertising-supported EHR that's free for doctors, agreed.

"We really think electronic health records are going to revolutionize care in terms of the quality physicians can provide," Laffel said. "It's going to reduce the errors physicians would otherwise make when prescribing medications."

Playing catch-up

The U.S. leads its international peers in the use of high-tech diagnostic equipment such as MRIs and CT scans, but it lags in adopting behind-the-scenes health-information technology.

While about 44% of American doctors have some element of electronic health record (EHR) working in their offices, only 6% have a fully functional EHR, according to an article published in the April issue of the journal Health Affairs. The portion of hospitals with fully operational ones hovers around 2%.

By contrast, primary-care doctors in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the U.K. and the Nordic countries make near-universal use of electronic health records, according to a 2009 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Like the U.S., Canada also has low adoption, with just 37% of its primary-care physicians using EHRs, according to a 2009 study from the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation in New York.

Some integrated U.S. health systems such as Kaiser Permanente and Group Health Cooperative have been health IT pioneers. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has saved more than $3 billion from its health IT investments, according to researchers' estimates in a separate Health Affairs study.

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Physicians EMR solution by DELL

March 20, 2010

http://biomedme.com/general/physicians-emr-solution-by-dell_7535.html

Together, Dell and participating hospitals are eliminating long-standing barriers to EMR adoption for small and medium medical practices: cost, complexity and interoperability. Dell’s Affiliated Physician EMR Solution lets hospitals sponsor their affiliated physicians with an EMR solution that is interoperable with the hospital’s own health information systems. The solution includes industry-leading EMR and practice management software, hardware systems, and a complete service and support portfolio. Financing options minimize physician up-front and out-of-pocket expenses until ARRA reimbursement starts.

Healthcare providers who adopt EMR and achieve “meaningful use” by 2011 are eligible to receive the maximum reimbursements of up to $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Reimbursements decline every year thereafter until 2015. Physicians who do not achieve meaningful use by 2015 risk Medicare and Medicaid penalties.

Hospitals:

While many hospitals offer their affiliated physicians “access” to the hospitals’ health information systems, this still doesn’t manage the totality of patient care. In order for true coordinated care to exist, physicians and their patients must be connected with hospitals before admission. By sponsoring this EMR program, your hospital will be building this connection. Together with Dell, your hospital plays a pivotal role in supporting physicians with the ability to accelerate the use of health information technology, improve patient safety, and reduce healthcare costs.

Affiliated Physicians:

The question isn’t if you’re going to transition to electronic medical records (EMR). It’s when. But, faced with all of the decisions and regulations, getting from here to there can seem daunting. That’s where Dell comes in. Dell has created a comprehensive solution that simplifies EMR adoption and management, allowing you to focus on your mission of improving patient care.

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Dell looks for niche in electronic medical records

March 3, 2010

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/03/01/daily16.html

Dell Inc. has formed a partnership with the American Medical Association to supply computer hardware and support to medical practices using the group's new electronic medical records platform, according to reports Monday.

The move is the latest in the Round Rock-based computer maker's efforts to diversify. Dell already provides computers, servers and storage hardware to hospitals and medical groups, and about half of the recently purchased Perot Systems Corp.'s business is from the health care industry, according to the Associated Press.

The service is being rolled out in Michigan initially and will be offered nationally by the end of the year. ((The AMA product also includes e-prescribing and laboratory services.))

Doctor's groups are faced with meeting national deadlines to transfer patient medical records to digital format and AMA is one of many providing the service. Additionally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes about $17 billion for hospitals and health care groups that adopt electronic medical records, beginning next year.

The Dell deal was announced during the first day of the annual health care technology conference hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

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