Doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, say computerized physician order entry (CPOE), which is typically one of the first functionalities used in EHRs, has saved lives at their institution. It marks the first time evidence, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, has been presented that links EHRs with a decrease in mortality. Read »

The great thing about the HIMSS10 roundtable that I attended this past Wednesday was that there were great discussions, which means multiple blog entries for me. Read »

A new study from the June issue of the American Journal of Managed Care concludes that EHRs can dramatically reduce costs and save resources compared to managed care programs for high-risk cardiac patients. The study shows that even minimal use of an EHR can help prevent costly medical procedures and increase quality of life in millions of patients at risk for chronic diseases, the number one global killer according to the World Health Organization. Read »

As I read about the myriad challenges of EHR adoption, one aspect in particular strikes home. One thing many CCHIT-Certified EHRs have in common is their perceived complexity; the number of buttons to click, pages to examine, and alerts to read can be overwhelming. In fact, when we spoke with Cathy Bruno at Eastern Maine Medical Center, the Davies Award-winning hospital in Bangor, Maine, she said one of their main challenges was reducing the nearly 10,000 notifications the system would generate down to a handful of truly meaningful alerts. Read »

Last Thursday, July 16th, the ONC Policy Committee accepted recommendations for an updated definition of "meaningful use". The major revisions include an extension for incentive funds eligibility (under the new "adoption year" scheme) and a requirement that 10% of orders be entered via CPOE. However, much confusion still festers over the how's, why's, and when's of CCHIT EHR certification. Worryingly absent were any new requirements to include certification of open source, or in-house EHR systems. Read »

Financial incentives to implement EHRs may finally nudge some paper-based hospitals and practices into the 21st century. But given the HITECH Act's short implementation timeline, those facilities that aren't even close to getting out of the paper game may be left in the dust. Too bad for them, I say. Read »