In response to a recent post I did on EMR and EHR about methods of approaching the EMR and EHR market, I got an interesting response from EMR vendor SRSsoft about their method of approaching the EMR market. As part of that response they sent the following image (click on it for full size image):
I think it’s a really interesting way to classify the various hospital specialties and how an EMR implementation would affect the various specialties. What do you think?
It certainly seems to demonstrate that EMRs are much more about the billing than the patient care.
So much (wasted) potential…
Agreed. Although, I do think that EMR software is getting better and there are potential benefits beyond billing that can be achieved if you implement the right EMR properly.
Yes, EMR has transformed over the years. It started with billing and scheduling (now called PM Practice Management), clinical documentation and e-prescribing with built-in ICD9 codes and patient care plans (now called EMR). I recall my brother-in-law spending hours documenting his visits, it was his nightmare. I knew there would eventually be an application that made this process easier. The long-term care industry has been using EMR for at least 15 years, but the billing module was difficult for some staff who didn’t quite “get it”. It boiled down to incorporating the software with the normal business flow. In any event, learning any healthcare software is the same as going from WordPerfect to Word, then going back to WordPerfect. On a positive note, offices do look much more organized without all the file folders everywhere. Tip: I hear AllScripts is now building a database of handy chief complaints into it’s MyWay product. They say it will minimize much of the time (up to 70%) in data entry time.
jac,
I’ll be interested to see how that chief complaint list works. It’s a hard beast to deal with.
We’ve definitely come a long way in 15 years, but there’s still a ways to go.