by Patty Enrado, Special Projects Editor and blogger for EHRWatch.com
After reading an article on the five key features of tomorrow's EHR, I wondered how the current EHR products are going to transition to meet the demands of healthcare providers and patients.
In another five years, as EHR adoption grows, we are likely to see consumers wanting their patient data and tests electronically delivered in real time, coordination among their providers, and the ability to conduct many healthcare-related transactions online.
As for the provider community, the next crop of medical school graduates and residents will expect the portability and access of patient data, which will give them greater efficiency and provide them with quality of life through the new model of practicing medicine without walls.
The five key features are things we are seeing in today's market. The users are early adopters of health IT. Mobile computing is definitely emerging already in large health systems such as the University of Kansas hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The concept of delivering safe, quality care anywhere will really resonate with time- and resource-strapped physicians.
Data liquidity via interoperability will have a bigger role in the second and third stages of meaningful use criteria. Every vendor should be working toward meeting this goal, so it's safe to say this is one area that healthcare providers shouldn't have to worry about with regard to their EHR system.
Easy maintenance is another requirement. As the market has heated up in the last two years, I think it's safe to say that the massive EHR implementation with consultants and expensive upgrades and maintenance costs will no longer be tolerated by healthcare providers who are looking for cost-effective solutions. If the EHR vendor has a lot of upgrades and maintenance after the initial implementation, buyer beware. Products have evolved. Expect that from your vendor.
Scalability and the user-friendliness are also two things that one should expect as the norm for even current products. If it can't scale, it's useless to healthcare organizations now. If it isn't intuitive to use, you won't get physician adoption. It's that simple.
The question mark is which products and EHR vendors will meet those demands. How do you know your chosen or implemented EHR system will make that transition seamlessly? It helps if you have a trusted relationship with your vendor.
For those who are getting into the game now, ask a lot of questions. I was at a health IT vendor's user conference a few weeks ago, and I was talking with someone who was working on a statewide HIE initiative. We were trading thoughts about EHRs, and she said she wanted to know why EHRs cost so much. Good question. Will the market demand either drive prices up or the competition bring prices down? Whatever the case, healthcare providers should ask the question to all vendors they are considering.
In another five years, as EHR adoption grows, we are likely to see consumers wanting their patient data and tests electronically delivered in real time, coordination among their providers, and the ability to conduct many healthcare-related transactions online.
As for the provider community, the next crop of medical school graduates and residents will expect the portability and access of patient data, which will give them greater efficiency and provide them with quality of life through the new model of practicing medicine without walls.
The five key features are things we are seeing in today's market. The users are early adopters of health IT. Mobile computing is definitely emerging already in large health systems such as the University of Kansas hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The concept of delivering safe, quality care anywhere will really resonate with time- and resource-strapped physicians.
Data liquidity via interoperability will have a bigger role in the second and third stages of meaningful use criteria. Every vendor should be working toward meeting this goal, so it's safe to say this is one area that healthcare providers shouldn't have to worry about with regard to their EHR system.
Easy maintenance is another requirement. As the market has heated up in the last two years, I think it's safe to say that the massive EHR implementation with consultants and expensive upgrades and maintenance costs will no longer be tolerated by healthcare providers who are looking for cost-effective solutions. If the EHR vendor has a lot of upgrades and maintenance after the initial implementation, buyer beware. Products have evolved. Expect that from your vendor.
Scalability and the user-friendliness are also two things that one should expect as the norm for even current products. If it can't scale, it's useless to healthcare organizations now. If it isn't intuitive to use, you won't get physician adoption. It's that simple.
The question mark is which products and EHR vendors will meet those demands. How do you know your chosen or implemented EHR system will make that transition seamlessly? It helps if you have a trusted relationship with your vendor.
For those who are getting into the game now, ask a lot of questions. I was at a health IT vendor's user conference a few weeks ago, and I was talking with someone who was working on a statewide HIE initiative. We were trading thoughts about EHRs, and she said she wanted to know why EHRs cost so much. Good question. Will the market demand either drive prices up or the competition bring prices down? Whatever the case, healthcare providers should ask the question to all vendors they are considering.
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