November 03, 2011
As EHR adoption continues to accelerate, more and more physicians will have access to a computer (desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.) when they engage in patient care. Ideally, having such a device in the exam room should benefit the patient more than the physician. The idea is to engage them with their care and their health data.
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August 30, 2011
I recently provided an overview of electronic health records (EHRs) to a new college graduate considering employment in the field. I described how access to clinical information at the right time significantly contributes to patient safety. I highlighted how clinicians can simplify their workflow by building personalized templates among care plans, order sets and notes, which they easily customize to each patient. I outlined the great advancements that can be made by querying the information for research sake. Most of all, however, I emphasized how exciting it is to be able to empower health care providers with use of the electronic health record during an unprecedented time of growth. Several regulatory initiatives will greatly accelerate responsible sharing and deeper use of information collected within the record. While I mentored my young friend on each of the upcoming initiatives, I stressed the importance of ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS.
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August 05, 2011
The United States is entering a new era of health care, driven by the implementation of health information technology, specifically the electronic health record (EHR). The adoption of EHRs offers tremendous potential to improve the quality of patient care, improving patient outcomes as well as increasing the efficiency of the health care system in the United States. This technology also empowers individuals to take more control of their health by eliminating the paper chart and enabling them to have more direct interaction with their personal health information.
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July 26, 2011
Jennifer Kay, MD, physician owner of Ridge Family Practice, PC, a family clinic in Council Bluffs, IA, likens a paper medical record to handcuffs, restricting what she's able to do. Kay says, "It keeps you in the office longer hours, not allowing you to have your data nicely organized, not allowing you to access it easily." However, the practice has found the key to unlock the paper record handcuffs.
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June 14, 2011
When my team implemented Cerner’s Ambulatory EHR 16 months ago we were changing culture from writing paper charts to an EHR. As a physician, I had the same fears as many of my peers have, but as a staff, we did it whole heartedly and adopted the solution with the urging of our affiliated hospital, Doctors Hospital of Renaissance, which implemented Cerner Corporation’s solutions.
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May 26, 2011
Syringa Hospital and Clinics is a rural acute care facility located in Grangeville, Idaho. In early 2011, Syringa went live with Cerner solutions and is currently working closely with Cerner’s Regulatory Compliance Team as they move toward meeting Meaningful Use. We had the pleasure of interviewing Darla Anglen-Whitley, Syringa’s EHR implementation project manager about her experiences.
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May 05, 2011
In an earlier blog post, we discussed the impacts of the ONC policy on what it means to have to “possess” all of what is in a vendor’s complete EHR certification, and how that may impact those of our clients who look to rely on our complete EHR certifications to support their Meaningful Use attestation. We now want to turn our attention to the other avenue that is available for clients to consider in their Meaningful Use attestation as the basis for their claim for use of certified EHR technology.
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April 19, 2011
In discussing the ultimate objectives of Cerner solutions, the phrase “closing the loop” is often mentioned. In research circles, this “loop” usually starts with the electronic capture of health information during the course of patient care. This information is then used to improve the management of that patient’s care. In some instances, the information is collected and de-identified in order to be used for research purposes. Research using these health data drives medical progress, from accelerating development of new therapies to informing point of care decisions. These changes are identified, their outcomes documented and evaluated for effectiveness in further research, and so on. In short, in this system, patient care drives discovery, and discovery drives patient care.
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April 18, 2011
At River Falls Medical Clinic, the basic question we ask whenever we embark on any kind of endeavor is how does this help our patients? From the day we began using Cerner’s Ambulatory Electronic Health Record solution in 2010, it was our goal to utilize the EHR to its full extent for the benefit of our workflow and the care we deliver to our patients. When the government announced Meaningful Use requirements, we were quick to notice that the proposed criteria would help us to better utilize our EHR to give our patients things they are not getting now. We eagerly jumped on board and made it our own personal goal to be prepared to “push the button” on April 18 – as one of the very first physicians in the country to be Meaningful Use certified.
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January 20, 2011
On the morning of Nov. 19, 2010 the FDA announced the widespread recall of the popular pain relief medication, Darvocet, citing “serious and potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.” Ensuring that the doctors who use our electronic health record (EHR) were aware of the Darvocet recall quickly became our highest priority that day. We needed to make sure that doctors knew about the recall so they immediately contact any of their patients who were taking Darvocet.
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November 18, 2010
At our annual Cerner Health Conference in October, we shared video stories about three of our clients prior to our keynote addresses. In the video above, WellSpan Health in south central Pennsylvania talks about the importance of their role in the community, their long term plan for becoming a digital hospital and their partnership with Cerner.
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