The EMR pitfall

The health care industry got a shot in the arm today with IBM's announcement of an 8-year, $402 million partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The company claimed that this will be a model for how the health care industry can use new technology. The news comes on the heels of poor earnings announcement by IBM earlier this month. While IBM is licking its fresh wounds, it is aggressively pursuing and expanding into lucrative sectors to breathe life into its ailing earnings.

This is good news indeed. Technology has already had a great impact on the health care industry and that is wonderful for patients. There is no doubt that this new initiative would further enhance how patients' vital data is handled. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) or Electronic Health Records (EHR) are nothing new. Plainly stated, they are patients' records on computer databases. But as new frontiers are explored, EMRs will become precariously closer to falling into wrong hands.

Consider the spate of news about stolen data from a number of prominent companies lately. LexisNexis, Polo Ralph Lauren, HSBC, NCR, and a number of renowned universities around the nation have had security breaches with customer data stolen. These are not fly-by-night companies with half-baked products. They are brands that most consumers trust and rely on.

If we are doomed to repeat past mistakes, then companies must be prepared to defend the EMR data with everything they have. But going a step further, they had better have plans in place for when security is breached and data is stolen. Because, let's face it, it is inevitable.

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EMR - Electronic Medical Records at Binary Spectrum, serves the necessary aspects of clinical care as well as healthcare information & practices.

EMR - Electronic Medical Records at Binary Spectrum, serves the necessary aspects of
clinical care as well as healthcare information & practices.

EMR - Electronic Medical Records at Binary Spectrum, serves the necessary aspects of
clinical care as well as healthcare information & practices.

Points to consider when you purchase new EMR system

Determine your Goals!

Why are you looking at EMR?
Has all the buzz made you think it is time?
Do you want to improve patient care or efficiency of the office?
Do you want to make more money?
Do you want to go home earlier?
Do you feel you have to?
Have you even thought about it?

Also you might want to ask the following preliminary questions to a vendor

What is the cost per physician license?
Do you have any existing clients in our specialty?
Does your system come pre-loaded with templates for my specialty?
Is your company the developers of the software or is it re-branded from another vendor?
Is your system client/server based or ASP based?
Does your system include practice management software?
How many clients does your company have?
Is your system HL7 compliant?
How long has your company been in business?
Is your development done overseas?
Is support done overseas?
Is your software CCHIT certified? If not, why?
How often is the software updated?

There is one major problem in EMR system that is if it got stolen or got hacked. So the hospitals or clinics make sure EMR has no security breach and its access is limited to few peoples.

EMR is a very useful software as it improves and enhances the quality of medical practice.

One way to make sure that you get the right EMR software is by asking a trial period. Many software providers will agree to such terms, putting their best foot forward to actually win your bid. Both the demo and the trial period will help the clients fully evaluate which type of software can actually provide the kind of service needed by their practice.

EMR is useful and allows a very streamlined and convenient way to have access to medical records.

Jay
You are right that the security issue in EMRs is always a threat. Last month Virginia Health Care records were stolen by some hacker, this would happen if the system has not built some kind of security in them to avoid such type of incident.

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This page contains a single entry by published on April 28, 2005 10:46 AM.

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