NetPulse, HIEs, and The Importance of Reliable EMRs — Around Healthcare Scene

Have you ever wished that all your fitness and food trackers were in one place? Well, look no further. NetPulse is trying to do just that. The new platform is working with some of the hottest apps, as well as fitness equipment makers, to make taking control of your health easier and more convenient.

A group of researchers recently published an opinion in the Journal of the American Medical Association regarding cloud-based health records versus HIEs. The verdict? They feel that the cloud-based health records might be a better way of sharing health records. What they had to say was rather interesting, so don’t miss the recap of it over at EMR and EHR.

Still looking to use HIEs, rather than Cloud-based health records? The ONC has recently released a toolkit to help different healthcare professionals use them more efficiently. This toolkit includes several guides and a spreadsheet to help determine costs and savings that are associated with implementing an EHR.

For those that missed HIMSS, check out the video that John filmed of the Metro point of care solutions. It gives you a first person perspective of what you could have seen demoed at HIMSS if you were able to attend. Plus, it’s pretty cool to see the point of care and BCMA technologies in action.

It’s important for an EMR to be usable. However, this isn’t always the case, and it can be extremely frustrating. Dr. Shirie Leng, an anesthesiologist, is someone who feels that way. In a recent piece over at KevinMD.com, Dr. Leng discusses her EMR usability wish list. Be sure to check it out, and see if you agree. What is your usability wish list?

And, how smart is your current EMR? According to John, it might just be stupid. While they may have value, most EHR software is just full of dumb data repositories. Despite the negativity of this perspective, the future of EHRs does have hope. With the help of entrepreneurs innovators, current EHRs will be turned smart.

Finally, in order for EMRs to make the changes needed, to improve usability and become more “smart,” the vendors need to get it together.  KLAS recently put several popular EMRs head-to-head, reviewing their usability and efficiency. Although names weren’t listed, they found that some EMRs were very difficult to learn, and it’s not necessarily the physician who is using its fault. Perhaps it’s time that physicians and hospitals demand higher quality products.

About the author

Katie Clark

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

   

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