Category: Uncategorized

Integrated care in a fragmented system

“Uncoordinated,” “reactive,” and “expensive” — all terms used by the Institute of Medicine to describe the fragmented U.S. health care system.  “Fragmented care” is a common experience for patients, especially those treated by both primary care and specialist physicians. Without timely communication between providers, a patient may face duplicate diagnostic tests, contradictory therapies, prescription interactions,

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Healthcare Buzzwords for the New Year

The new year brings a list of 12 healthcare buzzwords that highlight changes organizations are having to make to improve both efficiency and the patient’s experience… Full Story

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5 Ways to Boost Physician Acceptance of EHRs

The process of implementing electronic medical records involves a lot of moving parts. The following are five things every hospital should do for physicians when implementing electronic medical records…  Full Story

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Pharmacist-Physician Collaboration Improves Outcomes

Pharmacists may soon be working alongside primary care physicians. Two studies indicate that adding pharmacists to the primary care team for joint care management increases medical benefits. The presence of a pharmacist tended to improve patients’ adherence to medications…  Full Story

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EHR Decisions: Securing Providers’ Home Access

If your EHR software runs on a web server, your providers may access the system via the web from home, hospital, or other location to make important medical decisions based on up-to-date health records.  Utilize the https protocol, a secure version of http which is HIPPA compliant.  Using the https protocol ensures a secure means

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EHR Decisions: Sending Electronic Records to Other Facilities

For site to site data transmissions (your practice to a diagnostic center, your practice to a hospital), set up a virtual private network, or VPN.  A VPN connects two locations and uses the internet for data transmission, but encrypts the connection forming the virtual network.  Typically, when your clinicians access hospital records, they log on to a

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EHR Decisions: Securing Your Practice’s Wireless Network

There are several steps a medical practice must take to ensure its wireless network remains secure and electronic health records are unavailable to unauthorized users.  When you employ HIPAA compliant wireless security standards you pay attention to: (1)  Access Control:  Control who is granted access to your resources,  (2)  Auditing:  Maintain logs of who has accessed your wireless system,

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EHR Decisions: Winning the Support of Physicians and Clinical Staff

When implementing an EHR system in your clinic, it is important to win the support of the providers and other clinical staff who will be using it in everyday interactions with your community of patients.  Demonstrate that the utilization of electronic records will improve the accuracy of your record-keeping, improve the quality of your care, and enhance every

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EHR Decisions: Choosing the Right Hardware

When selecting hardware for clinicians to use to access electronic health records, issues of security, mobility and flexibility are important.  Many physicians find that a tablet PC best addresses these issues. First, a provider is able to take the tablet when he or she leaves an exam room so that patients may not gain access to the network

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Beyond Electronic Health Records: New Technology to Improve Patient Care

  New technology in the health care industry is growing beyond medical record maintenance.  The latest advances serve patients’ and providers’ interests in prevention and compliance: PDAs have merged with cellphones to play host to an array of clinical decision support applications, including those that assist providers with prescription medication and diagnostic issues.                        Technology

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