iPad's ease of use may drive EHR adoption

Patty Enradon, blogger at EHRWatch.com


The iPad is a hit with consumers. It's also a hit with physicians, and that may prove to be a boon for the adoption of EHRs.


An estimated 22 percent of U.S. physicians were using iPads by the end of 2010, according to Chilmark Research analysts. In a February 2011 survey by health marketing firm Aptilon, four out of five physicians said they plan to buy an iPad this year.


Physicians at various Memphis hospitals and health systems are extolling the virtues of iPads. One of the criticisms of EHRs is that physicians and nurses turn their backs on patients while entering data in a computer in the waiting room. With the iPad, the physician doesn't have to deal with unwieldy hardware. The inobtrusiveness (size, weight and look) of the iPad is winning over clinicians. It's truly mobile, allowing clinicians to move easily from examining room to examining room to office. So no need to push those computers on wheels, or COWs, either.


Also, imagine the joy patients who own iPads experience when they see their physicians and nurses using iPads. They know the benefits and convenience of these mobile devices.
When the iPad is connected to the healthcare provider's EHR and clinicians can seamlessly enter data that will be input into the EHR and pull up patient information from the EHR system while in the waiting room, both patient and physician understand the power and convenience of both mobile device and EHR system. And once developers create clinical apps for the iPad, expect an even greater adoption and adoration.


EHR vendors should be thanking Apple for creating a device that makes the adoption of EHRs a desirable endeavor.

AMA Launches AMAGINE Physician Portal

from HealthcareITNews.com

Amagine, Inc., a subsidiary of the American Medical Association (AMA), announced Tuesday that its health information technology solutions platform, AMAGINE, is available to physicians nationwide.


The unique platform provides physicians with a single point of access to more than 20 health information technology (health IT) solutions, knowledge and communication tools and consulting resources to help improve practice efficiency and patient care.
Subscriptions to the AMAGINE platform vary in price and can start from $20 per month per physician for electronic prescribing solutions to $300 per physician per month for electronic medical records systems.


"Navigating the murky water of the health IT marketplace can be daunting and we are thrilled to be able to help physicians with the AMAGINE physician platform," said Robert Musacchio, Ph.D, senior vice president, Business Product Solutions of Amagine, Inc. "The AMAGINE platform delivers tailored health IT solutions to medical practices to help physicians determine their practice needs, select the right system and qualify for federal health IT incentives."


The AMAGINE physician platform brings a plethora of health IT solutions to physicians, including three electronic medical record products, electronic prescribing software, claims management solutions, and clinical decision support and reference tools. Dr. First, Allscripts, DocSite, WellCentive, CareTracker, Quest Care360 and NextGen are just some of the top solutions providers available through the AMAGINE platform.


The AMAGINE team continually reviews new services and solutions to ensure its products fit physicians’ needs. AMAGINE consultants provide physicians with a free practice assessment to determine their readiness to adopt health IT and then make tailored recommendations for the individual practice.


“The free AMAGINE practice assessment is an invaluable resource for physician practices,” said Musacchio. “By having physicians answer a few simple questions, AMAGINE consultants are able to help them identify their unique needs and make specific recommendations on how they can best incorporate health IT into their practice.”
 

In collaboration with the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS), the AMAGINE platform has been pilot tested by Michigan physicians since 2009.


"My experience with health IT solutions has been limited, but I knew that it was important for my practice to enter the electronic age," said James A. Taylor, D.O., a family physician from Jackson, Mich. "AMAGINE made it easy to step into the electronic world. Through a single-sign on I can access many types of useful health IT solutions that enable me to collect data and demonstrate quality care."

Top 10 apps for HIT students and professionals

Hertencia Bowe, the national health information management program coordinator for Rasmussen College, spoke to Healthcare IT News about some smartphone apps that can help students and professionals be "more knowledgeable, prepared and organized when they're on the job."

Bowe oversees the development and expansion or the college's Health Information Technology and Health Information Management degree programs and curriculum.

Bowe says students and professionals that are pursuing a HIT degree can expect "a career of analyzing medical data, medical billing and coding and health information management," which she says means they must "be able to juggle numerous responsibilities."

Below is a list of the top 10 apps that she recommends HIT students and professionals use:

Drug Flashcards
This high-rated flashcard app has more than 200 flashcards covering the most popular prescription drugs on the market. The application allows users to edit, add and tag the drugs of your liking – making it the perfect application for medical professionals who need to brush up on their knowledge of prescription drugs.

New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

Download this app to receive up-to-the-minute scholarship, or more specifically the last seven days worth of published articles from the New England Journal of Medicine. Along with these articles, it allows users to download images, video and more. This application is perfect for students when they are researching articles for class assignments.

Awesome Note
Balancing a busy scheduler requires a powerful organizer. Try using the Awesome Note, a note-taking, calendar-viewing, to-do list-making, map-checking, Google Docs-syncing app. This will help keep students organized and ready for any challenge.

ToodleDo
If an old-school datebook or Microsoft meeting planner isn't cutting it anymore, look to ToodleDo. This app allows users to track project priority, start dates, due dates, and statuses. Even better, it can flag tasks, hide tasks, and create sub-tasks. This organizing tool can help students to never miss an assignment due date or forget to study for a big exam.
Living Medical Textbooks
This application by Projects in Knowledge offers actual medical textbooks on topics ranging from heart disease and diabetes to multiple sclerosis. One of the best capabilities of the app is that the books' chapters are updated every time a new medical discovery is made, making the textbook "living," and easily navigable.

Dragon Medical Search
Too busy to type? Dragon Medical Search allows a user to say a drug or disease's name into their phone's speaker to search for information. Sources like Medscape, Medline and more aggregate data on a chosen topic and offer a wealth of information and resources. This tool will particularly come in handy when students are learning how to code.
mSecure Password Manager
An HIT student or professional will be interfacing with many different online applications and a lot of different software.  The mSecure Password Manager app allows users to store all email and computer-related passwords, plus credit card numbers and more, helping users to access data safely and effectively, anywhere.

Google Fusion Tables and health data
For the HIT student or professional who wants to reach out to a larger community, this is an online database, accessible via smartphone, which allows users to share, combine and examine healthcare data. Offering maps, data sets and more, one of its coolest functionalities is its search tool where users can access everything from "best place to live" to "most common place to have pneumonia."

ICD 9
This highest-rated ICD-9 app features 2011 codes and healthcare data for physicians, hospitals and clinics looking for a handy medical diagnosis coding resource. The app allows users to view codes and symptoms and search through the database to find the exact medical code they are looking for.

Skyscape Medical Resources                                                                                                             Skyscape Medical Resources, compatible with the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad features a collection of free Medical Information and Decision Support resources for healthcare professionals. The free app features current medical guidelines, drug guides, interactive algorithms, calculators and more.

This Week in Healthcare IT

M&A, Financial Reports and Funding

SXC Health Solutions -- a provider of health benefit IT services -- will acquire pharmacy benefits manager MedMetrics Health Partners for an undisclosed amount...Z Microsystems -- a computing systems company for medical imaging -- has purchased the intellectual property and product development team of Enhanced Video Devices, a video-enhancing technology company, for an undisclosed amount…GE Healthcare has acquired the assets of Steady State Imaging, a provider of MRI technology, for an undisclosed sum.

Streamline Health Solutions -- a workflow and document management services company -- has reported a Q4 2010 net loss of $1.8 million on $4.9 million in revenue, compared with a Q4 2009 net income of $1.6 million on $6.3 million in revenue.

Contracts

The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded contracts to six companies to deploy telehealth and workflow management systems: American Telecare, Authentidate Holding, Cardiocom, HealthHero Network, Visual Telecommunication Network/ViTelCare and Viterion TeleHealthcare...Oakwood Healthcare in Michigan has selected EHR and financial information systems from Epic Systems...HealthInfoNet -- which operates a health information exchange and the Maine Regional Extension Center -- has named e-MDs and Ingenix -- which will change its name to OptumInsight in June -- as preferred EHR vendors and endorsed Concordant's planning and implementation services.

Ponce School of Medicine Regional Extension Center in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands has selected ABEL Medical Software, Cure MD and McKesson as preferred EHR vendors...California's El Centro Regional Medical Center has contracted cloud-based imaging technology from DR Systems...Montgomery AIDS Outreach in Alabama will implement EHR and practice management systems from SuccessEHS...the Hawaii Department of Public Safety will deploy an EHR system from eClinicalWorks...Methodist Dallas Medical Center has picked disease registry software from RemedyMD...Seymour Hospital in Texas has selected an EHR system from Prognosis Health Information Systems.

Regional Medical Imaging in Michigan has chosen imaging interoperability tools from Merge Healthcare...Loreley Clinics in Germany is deploying wireless networks from Aruba Networks...California's Palomar Pomerado Health has selected health information exchange software from GSI Health...health IT companies Soren Technology, Level 3 MPS and Visions Home Health have opted for medical claims and payment processing tools from i-Plexus Solutions…the Department of Defense has selected a blood transfusion management software system from Mediware.

Product Development and Marketing

The American College of Surgeons and Within3 -- an online health care community networking platform provider -- are launching an online community to offer a range of collaboration tools for surgeons practicing in sparsely populated areas...predictive modeling software provider BioSignia and patient-centered technology provider PatientCentral Technologies are creating a personal health information management system...Dell Services has launched a mobile clinical computing system for hospitals and health care organizations that use MEDITECH's information system...Allscripts Healthcare Solutions has entered into a 10-year agreement with Affiliated Computer Services to manage clinical, EHR and other network support services for Allscripts clients who use remote hosting applications.

M*Modal has integrated its speech-recognition technology with WebChartMD's Web-based clinical documentation platform...ClearPractice -- a physician and medical group software provider -- and health IT company Prognosis Health Information Systems are developing an integrated software-as-a-service-based EHR software for rural and community hospitals and their affiliated physicians...CommerceTel, a provider of mobile marketing tools, and medical care services company Magellan Global Health are developing mobile telehealth tools.

Personnel
Kent McAllister -- former vice president of client solutions at Sage Healthcare -- has been named CIO at Medical Electronic Attachment/National Electronic Attachment, a provider of insurance processing systems...James Hill -- founder and former CEO of Achievant, a human capital management service -- has been named vice president of sales for the Indiana Health Information Exchange.

Priti Sahai -- former vice president of health informatics at clinical research company Abraxis Health -- has been named chief strategy officer for the California Health Information Partnership and Services Organization…Alisoun Moore -- director of health systems management of Northrop Grumman's health IT programs -- has been named vice president and general manager of health IT company CSC's North American Public Sector Health Services Division.

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/4/15/health-it-business-news-roundup-for-the-week-of-april-15-2011.aspx#ixzz1Ju1WIWMg

3,000 Students Set To Graduate From Health IT Training Programs

This month, more than 3,000 individuals will graduate from 82 Community College Consortia health IT training programs, Modern Healthcare reports.

The non-degree training programs -- which are designed to help students develop health IT skills -- are funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT as part of its Health IT Workforce Development Program. 

The program was launched in 2010 with $36 million in funding, and in January ONC allocated an additional $32 million in funding.

ONC says the programs will help train more than 10,000 new health IT professionals annually by the end of next year (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 4/11).

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/4/12/3000-students-set-to-graduate-from-health-it-training-programs.aspx#ixzz1JPKERHsS

One-Fifth of Community Hospitals Plan To Change EHRs, Study Finds

Eighty percent of community hospitals believe their current electronic health record systems will allow them to comply with federal meaningful use rules by 2013, while 20% of community hospitals plan to switch systems, according to a study by research firm KLAS, Healthcare IT News reports.
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Study Details

For the study, KLAS interviewed more than 500 health care professionals using various EHR systems (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 4/7).
The report covers seven EHR vendors, including:

• Cerner;
• CPSI;
• Healthland;
• Healthcare Management Systems;
• McKesson;
• Meditech; and
• Siemens.

Customer Satisfaction for EHR Vendors

According to the report, the EHR vendors that the scored the highest in customer satisfaction were:

• McKesson, which received 81.5 points out of 100;
• Meditech, which received 79.3 points; and
• Cerner, which received 73.1 points.

Paul Pitcher -- KLAS research director and author of the report --  said, "Healthland and Siemens MS4 customers are least confident in their vendors, largely due to struggles with clinician adoption and lack of confidence in the vendors' development lifecycle" (Goedert, Health Data Management, 4/7).

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/4/11/onefifth-of-community-hospitals-plan-to-change-ehrs-study-finds.aspx#ixzz1JFTWHHpP

Survey: Most Physicians Satisfied With EHRs, but Cost Concerns Remain

Most ambulatory care physician practices that have implemented electronic health record systems are satisfied with their purchases, especially if they have optimized their EHRs since installing them, according to a survey by the Medical Group Management Association, Modern Healthcare reports.

MGMA collected data for the survey last year between Oct. 1 and Nov. 9 from a variety of health care settings, including independent practices, integrated delivery system-owned practices and community health centers (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 4/6). The online survey drew responses from 4,588 practices representing 120,000 physicians (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 4/5).

Key Findings

According to the survey:

• 86% of physician practice respondents that had fully optimized their EHR systems were "satisfied" or "fully satisfied";
• 72% of respondents that had completed EHR system implementation were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their systems; and
• 61% of respondents reporting full optimization indicated their systems had increased both productivity and practice revenue.

The survey also found that fully optimizing EHR systems led to greater financial benefits (Modern Healthcare, 4/6).

In addition, the survey found that independent medical practices were more likely to have fully implemented and optimized EHR systems than hospital-owned practices.
David Gans -- vice president of research and innovation at MGMA -- said this finding illustrates the complexities that larger organizations have to deal with in implementing EHRs.

Gans said, "[I]ntegrated systems are much more complex environments than independent physician practices and their information systems often have to encompass both inpatient and physician components."

Results Related to Meaningful Use

The survey found that 80.1% of practices that already have adopted EHRs intend to participate in the meaningful use program, which provides Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments to health care providers for using EHRs in a meaningful way (Healthcare IT News, 4/5).

Meanwhile, health care providers with fully optimized systems said a lack of interoperability functions could hinder efforts to meet meaningful use rules, the survey found (Modern Healthcare, 4/6).

Among medical practices that already have adopted EHRs, 13.6% said they are ready to attest to meeting all 15 core requirements in the meaningful use program.

Concerns Associated With EHR Implementation

According to the survey, 53.2% of respondents reported they either "mildly" or "severely" under-allocated the time needed to provide training on their EHR systems.
Of respondents that still were using paper-based records:

• More than 78% said they thought they would face a "significant" or "very significant" loss of productivity during EHR implementation;
• 71.7% pointed to "insufficient capital resources" as a barrier to investing in EHR systems; and
• 56.9% said "insufficient expected return on investment" was a barrier to investing in EHR systems (Healthcare IT News, 4/6).

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/4/6/survey-most-physicians-satisfied-with-ehrs-but-cost-concerns-remain.aspx#ixzz1Im3oE8RB

New Nationwide Collaboration To Leverage EHRs To Improve Care

Three major health organizations have teamed up to launch a program designed to improve outpatient care by increasing physicians' access to data through electronic health records, Healthcare IT News reports.

The three groups collaborating on the Guideline Advantage program are:

• The American Cancer Society;
• The American Diabetes Association; and
• The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Program Details

The program aims to evaluate and improve outpatient treatment for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The four conditions are among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S., according to CDC.

The program will use data from EHRs to develop a database of clinical information that could support future research on the four conditions.

Carol Wysham -- chair of the American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee and associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington -- said the initiative also will use EHR data to measure clinician performance based on guidelines from the three health organizations.

Richard Wender -- program liaison and past president of the American Cancer Society -- said the program will be effective because it will help health care providers gauge their performance based on benchmark data (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 3/31).

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/3/31/new-nationwide-collaboration-to-leverage-ehrs-to-improve-care.aspx#ixzz1IgTFs76K

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