Health Information Technology News:
IntrinsiQ and eClinicalWorks announced a partnership to integrate IntelliDose, IntrinsiQ’s chemotherapy management solution, with the eClinicalWorks unified Electronic Medical Record and Practice Management solution to give oncology practices a complete, best-of-breed health information system.
InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. announced that it selected MobileMD as its exclusive provider of health information exchange services. MobileMD’s Health Information Exchange provides secure real-time electronic orders and results exchange for physicians.
maxIT Healthcare announced that it has entered into an agreement to become a Certified Consulting Partner with Eclipsys Corporation.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and community healthcare. The NQF Board of Directors approved the creation of HITAC, charging the body with developing a strategic plan and providing ongoing guidance for NQF’s HIT portfolio; pffering input on HIT projects, such as maintenance of the Quality Data Set and specification of testing requirements for eMeasures; reviewing electronic specifications for NQF-endorsed and candidate standards; and making recommendations on the endorsement and maintenance of HIT-related consensus standards.
SunCoast Health Partners has selected MedLink to deploy the MedLink Regional Health Information Organization Financial Stability Model. SunCoast Health Partners is a Joint Venture between the SunCoast RHIO, Inc. and for profit partners offering services to the healthcare community in the Southwest Region of Florida. The participation by SunCoast will include offering products and services to the more than five hundred Healthcare Providers in the SunCoast RHIO covered area of Florida.
From the Inside Healthcare Computing Best Practices Library: EMR-Using Solo Physician Says Hospitals Need to Understand the Small Practice Culture
As hospitals promote the use of electronic medical records in their communities, their leaders should consider the underlying cultural differences between small physician offices and larger entities.
“The people that hospitals put in charge of these projects need to understand the culture of these small practices,” advises Jeffrey Brenner, MD. Brenner is among the estimated four percent of the country’s solo physicians who fully utilize an EMR. “These practices are very mom-and-pop like.”
Small Practices Do It Themselves
Brenner notes that solo physicians have more of a “do it myself” attitude than those employed in larger groups.
“They have a small business mentality, so when something breaks, you fix it yourself,” the Camden, NJ-based Brenner tells Inside Healthcare Computing. “You can’t afford to call someone to fix every little thing.”
While this mindset is effective for many aspects of solo practice, lack of computer skills has hindered EMR adoption for many offices. “Many practices have older staff not comfortable with computers,” says Brenner. “The key to moving small offices forward is getting them computer literate as soon as possible so they can do things themselves, just like they do everything else.”
Brenner recommends that hospitals dedicate resources to teach employees basic computer skills rather than relying solely on hospital-supplied IT services.
“If your computer doesn’t work, how long will it take the hospital IT staff to service an office that is not one of their own practices?” asks Brenner. “These small offices need to know how to perform basic troubleshooting and installation on their own. The providers should start off with a ‘Networking for Dummies’ book.”
Doctors in Small Practices Wary of Large Entities
Cultural differences and past hospital interactions can cause solo practitioners to resist hospital assistance. “People who go into a small practice choose to do so because they don’t like interacting and working with large entities,” explains Brenner. “In the past, hospitals have not always done things in the best interest of the small practice, so they don’t trust them.”
As hospitals reach out to the small practice community physicians, leaders must acknowledge their underlying fears.
“When doctors see this large entity that has never done anything to help your life suddenly coming out saying ‘I am going to help you and give you this and this and this,’ it’s a little scary,” says Brenner. “EMR adoption then becomes more of a cultural problem than an IT data problem.”
Hiring a small office practitioner to promote the hospital’s EMR initiatives can help alleviate fears.
“Just as if you were implementing EHR in a large system with super users and practitioner leaders, you need to find a small office provider to be part of the project, pay them, and they can become your advocate,” advises Brenner. “You need a leader from within that culture who understands these practices and is trusted to be at their side through the whole process.”
Brenner, who also teaches part-time at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, has personally experienced both EMR implementation successes and failures. “When I opened my private practice five years ago, I bought a product but couldn’t get it to work right,” says Brenner. “I am very computer-literate, but this product had an awful user interface and it ending up just sitting on the shelf.”
Two years later Brenner searched for a more suitable product and settled on SpringCharts from Houston, TX-based Spring Medical. “I needed something simple to use that allowed me to make quick notes,” says Brenner. “I did all the network set-up myself, my staff needed very little training, and it worked like a charm.”
Brenner claims the EMR’s impact has been tremendous. “Everything is paperless now. I see far more patients a day – at least one more patient an hour, I’ve been able to cut staff back and my overhead hasn’t increased,” says Brenner. “The huge stacks of charts are gone.”
Simpler EHR Option Recommended
Brenner’s experience has convinced him that small offices require different software alternatives to the systems of larger practices.
“When a tiny office is offered an enterprise EHR built for a big health system, I am not sure it is the best alternative,” says Brenner. “A big enterprise’s requirements are very different than what a small, busy, and high throughput office needs.”
Brenner suggests hospitals offer a range of products. “They need to find products designed for small offices,” says Brenner. “There are products out there that are cheaper and better suited for the complexity level of the smaller practices.”
For a hospital system to fully appreciate the small office environment, Brenner recommends leaders spend time in a small physician practice.
“Hospitals should get their CIO to spend a day at the smallest office they’d like to see adopt EHR and see what a difficult time they are having,” says Brenner. “Primary care is already on the ropes. Trying to do change management won’t be effective unless they understand the culture.”
— Correspondent Michelle R. Noteboom
Sidebar: How Hospitals Can Encourage Small Practice EMR Adoption
1. Dedicate resources to teach employees in small practices basic computer skills so they can perform basic troubleshooting and installation on their own, instead of having to wait for your busy IT department to help them.
2. Consider hiring a small office practioner to promote the hospital’s EMR initiative. Having an advocate whom small practices see as “one of their own” can help facilitate adoption.
3. Acknowledge that small practices will have underlying reservations about becoming part of a larger system. Keep those reservations in mind when working with them.
4. Offer a range of EMR products that will meet the needs and budget of smaller practices.
5. Have IT leadership spend a day in a small practice and learn first-hand about the challenges it faces.
This article is from the 8/18/08 issue of Inside Healthcare Computing. Copyright 2010 Algonquin Professional Publishing.
Need more best practice tips on working with physician practices to implement EHR? Take a look at some more recent articles from Inside Healthcare Computing:
MemorialCare: Connecting Physicians to Improve Patient Care (4/19/10)
Physician Practice Sees Another Benefit of EHR: Competitive Edge in Recruiting New Docs (3/8/10)
Physician Practice Shares EMR Implementation Best Practices (2/22/10)
Hospital Assists Community Physicians with EMR (10/5/09)
Hospital System Prepares for Increase in EMR Implementation Among Physicians (3/9/09)
Tips for Implementing EMRs in Physician Practices (3/9/09)
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Update 5/17/10
Posted by catheihc on May 17, 2010
Health Information Technology News:
IntrinsiQ and eClinicalWorks announced a partnership to integrate IntelliDose, IntrinsiQ’s chemotherapy management solution, with the eClinicalWorks unified Electronic Medical Record and Practice Management solution to give oncology practices a complete, best-of-breed health information system.
InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. announced that it selected MobileMD as its exclusive provider of health information exchange services. MobileMD’s Health Information Exchange provides secure real-time electronic orders and results exchange for physicians.
maxIT Healthcare announced that it has entered into an agreement to become a Certified Consulting Partner with Eclipsys Corporation.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and community healthcare. The NQF Board of Directors approved the creation of HITAC, charging the body with developing a strategic plan and providing ongoing guidance for NQF’s HIT portfolio; pffering input on HIT projects, such as maintenance of the Quality Data Set and specification of testing requirements for eMeasures; reviewing electronic specifications for NQF-endorsed and candidate standards; and making recommendations on the endorsement and maintenance of HIT-related consensus standards.
SunCoast Health Partners has selected MedLink to deploy the MedLink Regional Health Information Organization Financial Stability Model. SunCoast Health Partners is a Joint Venture between the SunCoast RHIO, Inc. and for profit partners offering services to the healthcare community in the Southwest Region of Florida. The participation by SunCoast will include offering products and services to the more than five hundred Healthcare Providers in the SunCoast RHIO covered area of Florida.
From the Inside Healthcare Computing Best Practices Library: EMR-Using Solo Physician Says Hospitals Need to Understand the Small Practice Culture
As hospitals promote the use of electronic medical records in their communities, their leaders should consider the underlying cultural differences between small physician offices and larger entities.
“The people that hospitals put in charge of these projects need to understand the culture of these small practices,” advises Jeffrey Brenner, MD. Brenner is among the estimated four percent of the country’s solo physicians who fully utilize an EMR. “These practices are very mom-and-pop like.”
Small Practices Do It Themselves
Brenner notes that solo physicians have more of a “do it myself” attitude than those employed in larger groups.
“They have a small business mentality, so when something breaks, you fix it yourself,” the Camden, NJ-based Brenner tells Inside Healthcare Computing. “You can’t afford to call someone to fix every little thing.”
While this mindset is effective for many aspects of solo practice, lack of computer skills has hindered EMR adoption for many offices. “Many practices have older staff not comfortable with computers,” says Brenner. “The key to moving small offices forward is getting them computer literate as soon as possible so they can do things themselves, just like they do everything else.”
Brenner recommends that hospitals dedicate resources to teach employees basic computer skills rather than relying solely on hospital-supplied IT services.
“If your computer doesn’t work, how long will it take the hospital IT staff to service an office that is not one of their own practices?” asks Brenner. “These small offices need to know how to perform basic troubleshooting and installation on their own. The providers should start off with a ‘Networking for Dummies’ book.”
Doctors in Small Practices Wary of Large Entities
Cultural differences and past hospital interactions can cause solo practitioners to resist hospital assistance. “People who go into a small practice choose to do so because they don’t like interacting and working with large entities,” explains Brenner. “In the past, hospitals have not always done things in the best interest of the small practice, so they don’t trust them.”
As hospitals reach out to the small practice community physicians, leaders must acknowledge their underlying fears.
“When doctors see this large entity that has never done anything to help your life suddenly coming out saying ‘I am going to help you and give you this and this and this,’ it’s a little scary,” says Brenner. “EMR adoption then becomes more of a cultural problem than an IT data problem.”
Hiring a small office practitioner to promote the hospital’s EMR initiatives can help alleviate fears.
“Just as if you were implementing EHR in a large system with super users and practitioner leaders, you need to find a small office provider to be part of the project, pay them, and they can become your advocate,” advises Brenner. “You need a leader from within that culture who understands these practices and is trusted to be at their side through the whole process.”
Brenner, who also teaches part-time at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, has personally experienced both EMR implementation successes and failures. “When I opened my private practice five years ago, I bought a product but couldn’t get it to work right,” says Brenner. “I am very computer-literate, but this product had an awful user interface and it ending up just sitting on the shelf.”
Two years later Brenner searched for a more suitable product and settled on SpringCharts from Houston, TX-based Spring Medical. “I needed something simple to use that allowed me to make quick notes,” says Brenner. “I did all the network set-up myself, my staff needed very little training, and it worked like a charm.”
Brenner claims the EMR’s impact has been tremendous. “Everything is paperless now. I see far more patients a day – at least one more patient an hour, I’ve been able to cut staff back and my overhead hasn’t increased,” says Brenner. “The huge stacks of charts are gone.”
Simpler EHR Option Recommended
Brenner’s experience has convinced him that small offices require different software alternatives to the systems of larger practices.
“When a tiny office is offered an enterprise EHR built for a big health system, I am not sure it is the best alternative,” says Brenner. “A big enterprise’s requirements are very different than what a small, busy, and high throughput office needs.”
Brenner suggests hospitals offer a range of products. “They need to find products designed for small offices,” says Brenner. “There are products out there that are cheaper and better suited for the complexity level of the smaller practices.”
For a hospital system to fully appreciate the small office environment, Brenner recommends leaders spend time in a small physician practice.
“Hospitals should get their CIO to spend a day at the smallest office they’d like to see adopt EHR and see what a difficult time they are having,” says Brenner. “Primary care is already on the ropes. Trying to do change management won’t be effective unless they understand the culture.”
— Correspondent Michelle R. Noteboom
Sidebar: How Hospitals Can Encourage Small Practice EMR Adoption
1. Dedicate resources to teach employees in small practices basic computer skills so they can perform basic troubleshooting and installation on their own, instead of having to wait for your busy IT department to help them.
2. Consider hiring a small office practioner to promote the hospital’s EMR initiative. Having an advocate whom small practices see as “one of their own” can help facilitate adoption.
3. Acknowledge that small practices will have underlying reservations about becoming part of a larger system. Keep those reservations in mind when working with them.
4. Offer a range of EMR products that will meet the needs and budget of smaller practices.
5. Have IT leadership spend a day in a small practice and learn first-hand about the challenges it faces.
This article is from the 8/18/08 issue of Inside Healthcare Computing. Copyright 2010 Algonquin Professional Publishing.
Need more best practice tips on working with physician practices to implement EHR? Take a look at some more recent articles from Inside Healthcare Computing:
MemorialCare: Connecting Physicians to Improve Patient Care (4/19/10)
Physician Practice Sees Another Benefit of EHR: Competitive Edge in Recruiting New Docs (3/8/10)
Physician Practice Shares EMR Implementation Best Practices (2/22/10)
Hospital Assists Community Physicians with EMR (10/5/09)
Hospital System Prepares for Increase in EMR Implementation Among Physicians (3/9/09)
Tips for Implementing EMRs in Physician Practices (3/9/09)
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