Written by Health Management Technology
Incremental changes are key to making EHR adoption wireless–and painless–for a Tennessee clinic.
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Imagine arriving at work one day to find that your native language is no longer in use, and you quickly must learn another to do your job. Switching from a pencil and paper or a tape-based notes system to an electronic health record (EHR) might seem this way to physicians who have employed the same notes method for so long it’s ingrained in their daily workflow. Abruptly adopting new computer-based methods can be a wild ride, like a bus suddenly changing lanes–some of the passengers might get bruised. Even tech-savvy doctors might balk if switching to an EHR doesn’t allow them to continue, in some part, to document notes in a fashion to which they are accustomed. Easing the transition for some healthcare providers means choosing an EHR with a modular design that allows an incremental approach to its adoption. |
Written by Robin Blair, Editor
Maryland-based CareFirst re-ups for a second year of e-prescribing for its network physicians.
Experiments in giving away information technology to providers–right along with the vision of the national health information network–have produced a couple of widely-held popular opinions. The first is that physicians and physician practices don't want to pay for the technology. The second is that health plans and the federal government should pay for it.