Another Boondoggle. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle on 12/15/2016: “A huge project to modernize medical record-keeping for California prison inmates has more than doubled in cost from original estimates to nearly $400 million in just three years, the latest in a long string of computer projects that have befuddled state government.” Even for those […]
Tag: EMR
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
Many patient conditions are difficult to describe accurately but can easily be captured by a digital photo. While most hospital EMRs will accept photo files, the process can be very cumbersome. A digital camera has to be found, the picture taken, then uploaded to the hospital EMR system through a PC. This not only takes […]
Order Sets on Steroids
Building and maintaining physician order sets can be one of the most important steps a hospital can take in making the use of EMR systems more efficient and creating a culture of structured care. In his book The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande makes a clear case for the use of checklists in all aspects of […]
When Everything Falls Apart
In recent news articles, the fragility of hospital EMR platforms has been illustrated by the interruption of access to the EMR and the resulting loss of information to clinical workers. In at least one case, the hospital was without access for a number of days, creating havoc and closing vital services. The backup plan in […]
Will Hospital-Acquired Infections Kill Your EMR?
Recent reports of hospitals infected with computer viruses have IT managers very worried as well they should be. EMR systems typically run over the same networks as other hospital functions, often leaving the door open to malware and viruses. In two recent examples, hospitals were crippled by what is known as ransomware. Often emanating from […]
EMR in Africa and Beyond
The US market for hospital EMR systems has primarily been driven by the 36 billion dollars of the HITECH meaningful use program but what is going to drive the transformation from paper to full EMRs in the developing world? The answer is simple, Return on Investment (ROI). Actually, the US market would have been a […]
Meaningful Use Has Cost Taxpayers 34.7 Billion Dollars, Was it Worth it?
According to a recent article by John Lynn, founder of HealthCareScene, “CMS has put out the latest data on meaningful use participation and payments. They broke the Medicare dollars out by meaningful use Stage 1 and Stage 2. Meaningful use Stage 1 cost nearly $20 billion. Meaningful use Stage 2 cost $3.4 billion. The amounts were […]
Will COWS Soon Be Extinct?
A tour through most hospitals in the US will find the halls and patient rooms filled with COWs (Computers on Wheels) or as they are also known WOWs (Workstations on Wheels). These over-priced computer stations were the backbone of first-generation hospital EMR systems but are rapidly giving way to mobile devices like tablets as EMR […]