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Electronic Health Records (EMR) Vendors – Points to Consider

June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post

Selecting an EMR system for your medical practice is a very challenging task due to the rapid development in that field for last few years. According to a research study, there are about 400 EMR vendors alone in the state of Los Angeles and California. Choosing the right EMR vendor is as important as choosing for the software itself. The element of reliability is very important because if it lacks that factor then there is no point of spending so much money on implementing EMR software for your medical practice.

So, if you are planning to have your own EMR system for practice, before buying the software the first thing that should be done is selection of the right EMR vendor. Following are the few points which will give you a guideline in carrying out the market research:

1. Checking the track record:

Evaluation of an EMR vendor can be done by reviewing their track record. Read the testimonials about their services and their success stories, this will help you in sorting out the right one for your requirements. Think of the EMR vendor as your partner and take a short interview before making up the final decision. Check the company history and their mission statement about the running business.

2. Evaluate your needs:

Before looking for an EMR vendor and getting confused with the services and features that they are offering, Make a clear list of what services and features that you actually require. This can be done by comparing it with the existing services you have implemented. This will save a lot your time once your clear with your depends or the type of system u want.

3. Consultation:

Before opting for EMR software, consult with different physicians who have been using the software for quite some time. Also, if you have any particular vendor in mind, check their clients and then compare and contrast with other vendors. Getting an opinion for complicated software like EMR is always beneficial in the long run.

4. Keep your questions ready:

Once you have evaluated your needs, and you are ready to go into the EMR market, make sure you have handful of important questions that are needed to ask. These questions can range from basic services to the more complicated ones including training procedures and the long term benefits. These Q/A sessions are extremely important because this would determine not only your commitment to your practice but also the efficiency of the vendor.

5. Training Issues:

Training is the backbone of the proper implementation of EMR system. Ask the vendor about their terms and conditions they are offering for training session. Learn about the onsite and online training manuals and demos. And also ask the vendor about the operating system and your requirements.

6. Manage your results:

After doing your market surveys write down your results. Don’t jump to any conclusions. It is wise to get back to your sales team or your staff, consult with them before making any final decision to proceed with a particular vendor. Also consider the differences very carefully because a physician with a newly established medical practice would be having different needs than the one who has been in business for a long time.

Daniel Ray MD Healthcare EMR | EHR Systems

Top 100 Healthcare IT Companies by Revenue

June 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

From the EMR Thoughts blog comes an exhaustive list of the top 100 healthcare IT companies by revenue.

Here I have listed the top 25:

  1. McKesson Technology Solutions
  2. Dell Inc.
  3. CareFusion
  4. Philips Healthcare
  5. Cerner Corporation
  6. Siemens Healthcare
  7. Keane, an NTT DATA Company
  8. CSC
  9. Pulse Systems, Inc., division of Cegedim
  10. Cognizant
  11. Emdeon
  12. Epic Systems Corporation
  13. Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
  14. EMC Corp.
  15. Wolters Kluwer Health
  16. The Trizetto Group
  17. OptumInsight (formerly Ingenix)
  18. Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH)
  19. Nuance Communications, Inc.
  20. 3M Health Information Systems
  21. GE Healthcare
  22. IBM
  23. Microsoft
  24. Oracle Corporation
  25. MedQuist Holdings Inc.

 

Mac EMR Software Guide

April 13, 2011 By 2 Comments

Mac EMR Software Guide – Bonus Resource. Many healthcare professionals are looking to Apple products such as the iPad, iPod, and iPhone to complement their medical practices. But how many are looking to actually run their practice’s EMR on a Mac?

While many are investigating the feasibility of running a Mac-based practice, they’re finding that there are limited options available. Currently, there are less than approximately 10 electronic medical record vendors that optimize their software for Mac’s OS X, and only 3 of those are currently ONC-ATCB certified. A more realistic option for many practices is web-based EMR, as these can be run on any operating system.

Software Advice recently updated a guide profiling the best Mac and web-based EMR systems. Check it out here. If you come across any great Mac or web-based systems, leave a note in the comments.

Mac EMR Software Guide

Bonus Resource – Ten Steps to Selecting the Right Medical Software

September 29, 2010 By 2 Comments

From our partners at SoftwareAdvice.com we bring you this free white paper on the Ten Steps to Selecting the Right Medical Software.

Just click on the link below to download the pdf.

Choosing a Phone System for Your Practice, Part 1

June 14, 2008 By

When I first joined our group about 11 years ago (jeez, it’s been almost 12 years!) can-phone.jpgwe had some 80 or so employees and a big collection of PC computers connected in a patchwork of a network – not exactly state-of-the-art. Our phone system, however, was relatively sophisticated – or so we thought. A multi-line phone system with several custom features and a message-on-hold device. What we didn’t realize until much later was that we were paying for each and every line coming into the building as well as for each and every custom feature on each and every one of those individual phone lines.

Another drawback to this type of system is that the staff needs to keep track of multiple phone numbers – this can get chaotic when you start adding multiple locations. If you needed to get hold of a particular doctor, for example, first you would need to find out where he or she is [Read more...]

Can EMR Save You Money?

May 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment

A frequent discussion among colleagues, especially if they are in the same group, is whether or not a practice will ever realize a return on their investment in an EMR system. piggy-bank.jpg Of course, this is beside the point that the government is mandating the use of EMR by within the next ten years. While hospitals and larger clinics have already done the number crunching, and believe that EMR systems will more than pay for themselves, it may be more difficult for the average-sized practice to calculate their savings.

Nevertheless, an article on Software Advice offers some more reasons to consider making the switch to paperless, including

1. Savings on chart pulling costs. Several studies have calculated that it can cost as much as $4 to pull or create a paper chart. Beth Israel Hospital in [Read more...]

Preparing the Staff for EMR

May 4, 2008 By 3 Comments

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of implementing an electronic medical records system (EMR) is managing its effect on the staff.

According to a study by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, one of the most common mistakes that executives make when joining a company or mannequins-plan.jpgmaking changes is failing to properly read the existing corporate or office culture. An example would be a control-oriented manager coming into a company with a collaborative culture, leading to tension and resistance.

In this column, I’ll explain how to adapt the existing office culture to facilitate the staff’s acceptance of a switch from paper records to EMR.

[Read more...]

Choosing the Right Network Design for Your Medical Practice

January 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Even if you haven’t yet made the leap to full electronic medical records (EMR) implementation, chances are you’re already using a computerized system for scheduling, billing, or other administrative functions. network-programmer-woman.jpgAnd unless you only have one computer in the office, it’s likely that the computers are connected by some sort of network.

[Read more...]

Network Software for the Medical Practice: A Primer

January 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Before choosing an EMR system, you need to know some network software basics.neural-network.jpg

‘Software’ is just another term for a computer program. Today’s software offerings usually break down into one of two broad categories: network/server or application/productivity. Network and server software includes the operating systems that run your servers and network, but also extends to monitoring and management software.

Sometimes, the process of selecting the right software can get pretty complicated, what with licensing, different versions, and all of the other considerations that are involved, so it’s important to understand how everything fits together before you decide which type of program is right for you.

[Read more...]