"The Doctor’s Failure to Cut Costs" by Dr. Pauline Chen in the NY Times

In the NY Times, Dr. Pauline Chen writes an interesting article titled, "The Doctor’s Failure to Cut Costs." She interviews Dr. Howard Brody, professor of family medicine and director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. Brody recently wrote an editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine, titled, "Medicine's Ethical Responsibility for Health Care Reform — The Top Five List"

So, is it all about money? No. But, listen to this response from Dr. Brody:

When you combine this love affair with high technology with a reimbursement system that pays so much more for technology — and less for thinking and sitting and talking with patients — you end up with an expensive kind of medicine, which, when practiced by doctors, puts more money into their pockets...
In actual fact, there’s such a low chance that technology will help all these patients.

I agree that the misuse of technology is contributing to soaring health care costs. There are some organizations that even promote "executive health" programs that include expensive medical tests and diagnostic studies (not necessarily based on evidence, but based on strategies that will profit the hospital systems).  I believe that technology can significantly improve the world of medicine and public health, but only if it's used properly.

Medical Fusion conference (June 2010 in San Diego)

I'll be there and I hope to see you as well: 

Join me at the Medical Fusion conference in June (San Diego)

I'll be speaking at the Medical Fusion conference in San Diego this June, so I look forward to seeing you there! Remember to use the discount code JKBLOGSD to receive a $25 discount on your registration fee.

Click here to learn more about the Medical Fusion conference.

Perspectives about cancer from a student blogger

This is a guest post by David Reis. If you're interested in submitting a guest post, please contact me.

What is cancer?  How does it develop and what treatments will the future offer?

First it’s important to note that cancer is made out of cells from your own body that have, so to speak, decided to revolt and do their own thing.  Our body naturally needs to replace itself as you wear out, and some tissues are constantly growing.  On a daily basis, we make hundreds of billions of new blood cells for instance.

Problems arise when the body loses its natural balance.  A breast cell, say, that only is supposed to divide 10 times undergoes  a mutation that removes some of the checkpoints.  But that alone isn’t usually enough.  For cancer to develop, typically several things have to go wrong. So the breast cell loses the restriction that prevents it from dividing more than 10 times – and loses the system that tells it to commit suicide (or apoptosis) if it grows too much.  The result could be a tumor.

Still, not all cancers lead to disease.  The breast cell can grow a little bit then stop.  Or it can start growing abnormally but trigger the body’s immune response which either wipes it out or stops it from growing further.

Free surgery for the needy on Sundays

Dr. Andy Moore is an inspiration. Watch this brief little video about how he provides free surgery on Sundays:

Thoughts about mobile clinical assistants (MCAs)

Currently using an MCA in your hospital? Thinking about getting some for your hospital staff? Make sure to read this blog post on MobileHealthComputing.com

Motion C5 vs. Panasonic H1

Kapidex changes to Dexilant

The FDA has approved the following name change to prevent medication errors (due to similar sounding names). You don't have to have pharmacy technician training to see how easily this error could be made. Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) will now be called Dexilant. Dexilant will be marketed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. and the name change will go into effect in April 2010.

Social media discussions at #HIMSS10

At HIMSS10, social media was a hot topic that was discussed by several hospital systems and physician groups. How do you leverage social media to improve patient satisfaction? Does social media allow physicians to improve communication with employees and patients? How should you handle a disgruntled patient who complains on a social media channel like Facebook or Twitter? If a patient gets very upset, he/she may go to the media or may even post things on a blog. That wouldn't be easy to diffuse, would it? By using social media, you may have the opportunity to communicate with unhappy patients so that you can work with them to resolve their issues before things explode.

Every time I mention the topic of social media to my physician colleagues, they seem to focus on the negative aspects of social media. They talk about their concerns regarding privacy and don't seem to be interested in leveraging social media to their benefit.

As more hospitals and health systems embrace social media, I'm sure we'll see even more discussions about social media next year at HIMSS10.  Does your institution know how to use social media? Do you have a social media policy? I'm currently working on a social media policy for a large organization and hope to share that once it's completed. Most groups and organizations are willing to share their social media policies with the world (it follows the open spirit of social media).

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to blog about HIMSS10.

Evolving role of the PHR and international health

Cardiac patients are often told to carry a photocopy of their latest EKG (or ECG) when they travel. This way, if they happen to suffer chest discomfort and if they end up in an emergency room, they can quickly provide a copy of their latest EKG so that clinicians can compare that EKG to the current EKG.

Given that more and more patients are now using a digital personal health record or PHR, will this mean that we can simply keep digital copies of studies like an EKG or chest X-ray on web-based PHRs? What if you end up in a remote hospital that lacks Internet access? What if the ER doesn’t allow you to sit in front of a computer to retrieve your medical records?

Paper is nice, but what happens if you lose that piece of paper? Future travelers will probably always carry a laptop, tablet, netbook, or some other mobile computing device (maybe even an iPad) so that they can keep copies of their latest vital medical records on these mobile devices.

Driving Total Health with HIT and Health 2.0 at #HIMSS10 @tedeytan @htpotter

This morning at HIMSS10, I attended an educational session titled, "Driving Total Health with HIT and Health 2.0." Presenters included Dr. Ted Eytan (@tedeytan) and Holly Potter (@htpotter)

Here are some of the key points from this session:

• Total Health at Kaiser Permanente focuses on disease prevention and patient empowerment.
• KP HealthConnect and MyHealthManager is now a part of a comprehensive EHR.
• The majority of MyHealthManager PHR users are very satisfied with their PHR experience
• KP is leveraging YouTube to connect with consumers. 
• They are experimenting with the balance to improve productivity while allowing employees to engage in social media.
• Care is delivered socially and so care delivery should be social as well.
• Patients want to be involved and empowered. 
• Social media allows an organization to: protect and promote the brand, improve organic search results, create brand champions, and extend the impact of traditional media.
• Responding to patient complaints on Facebook and other social media channels.
• Develop a social media policy for your organization.
• Key steps include: monitoring; responding; pitching; and participating.
• Social media allows health professionals to create real relationships. However, are we erasing the line that separates the professional relationship from the personal relationship?
• Social media can also improve employee-employee communication.

This was an excellent presentation and a great discussion around social media. I'm excited to see how other health organizations and physicians will leverage social media to improve patient communication and health care delivery.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to blog about HIMSS10.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta here at #HIMSS10 discussing Medicare fraud @SanjayGuptaCNN

For some of you, HIMSS10 may be over. The exhibit hall closed yesterday, but the educational sessions are still continuing. This morning, I had the chance to see Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN interview Harry Markopolos, CPA. The discussion revolved around Medicare fraud which is a huge problem in this country.

Here were some key points from this keynote:

• Medicare fraud story: $100 million were being billed by criminals who were using the names of deceased physicians.
• Roughly $80 billion - fraud? Maybe $40 billion? Probably $60 billion each year. 
• Discussion revolved the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
• Do we need "undercover" patients to investigate whether doctors are breaking Medicare rules? (your next patient could be wearing a wire)
• Only $20 million is spent on fraud investigation. Is this enough?
• If women are being billed for male diseases, this could signal fraud (women won't be diagnosed or treated with prostate cancer)
• Examples of Medicare fraud: upcoding, billing for procedures that were never done, off-label marketing, kickbacks, etc.
• Where is the Medicare fraud occurring? Some doctors may feel a sense of entitlement and they may rationalize their behavior. 
• The EHR may be a double-edged sword. Medicare fraud may be easier to detect, but you may lose some evidence. 
• Don't title your accounts "slush funds" or "kickback accounts" because that may indicate that fraud may be occurring.
• Some doctors are billing for 80 hours of day. (not a typo - 80 hours each day)
• Whistle blowers receive a financial incentive based on the final settlement.
• Corporate integrity agreements result in additional IT work and reports.
• Will Medicare go bankrupt by 2017 or 2019?
• Some hospice providers may be caring for dead patients.  
• The worst nightmare for an IT professional is a Medicare fraud investigation. 
• How do we protect Medicare beneficiaries?  Check their charts and their medical bills.
• Some physicians are being trained by "senior staff" to upcode. Do you know how to bill accurately?

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to blog about HIMSS10.

Buzzwords from #HIMSS10

Here at HIMSS10, there were many buzzwords that were flying around. Here are a few that captured my attention this year:

• Transformation - our medical system will get transformed
• Interoperability - data needs to be shared
• Security - data security is becoming more important
• Champion - we need physician champions
• Workflow - health IT adoption must revolve around clinical workflow
• Meaningful Use - where are we going with the definition of "meaningful use"? 

If I were to sum up HIMSS10 in one word, it would probably be: transformation. We will see some significant changes in the way medicine is practiced and that will transform health care. So, are you ready to adopt technology to improve patient care?

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend HIMSS10 and blog about my experiences.

Last day of #HIMSS10 today. See you in Orlando next year!

Today is the last day of HIMSS10. It's been a great meeting and I will continue to write about my thoughts and experiences, so stay tuned and make sure to subscribe to my blog updates. I've learned about new companies and evolving strategies in the health IT industry. I had the chance to speak directly with several company CEOs and Presidents who are actively working on some innovative initiatives in the world of health IT. It's also been great to see collaborative efforts to improve data exchange, interoperability, clinical workflow, and data security.

As I fly back home today, I'll be going through some of the literature I picked up while walking through the exhibit space and I'll write a few additional blog posts.

Next year, HIMSS will be in Orlando. Hope to see you there! Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me and making it possible for me to attend HIMSS10 and blog about this great experience.

Practice Fusion Launches Certified Consultant Network

Yesterday, Practice Fusion announced that they are launching a Certified Consultant Network to Serve 30,000 EHR Users Nationwide. Here's a snippet from the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO – March 2, 2010 – Practice Fusion, the nation’s fastest growing electronic health record (EHR) community, announced today at the HIMSS Healthcare IT Conference in Atlanta partnerships with Certified Consultants across the US to foster the transition of physician practices from paper to electronic records. With over 100 new medical providers signing up for Practice Fusion’s EHR each business day, Practice Fusion Certified Consultants provide local assistance vital for rapid response to this increasing demand. Doctors who adopt EHRs can qualify for $44,000 or more in economic stimulus incentives, while also increasing their data security and improving the quality of care.

If you're interested in learning more, click here for the full press release and for more information about Practice Fusion. I'm glad I was able to meet several people from Practice Fusion here at HIMSS10. It's always great to put a face to a name!

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.    

Don't forget to get your CME/CE at #HIMSS10

There were several nice thing about being here at HIMSS10. First, I was surrounded by health IT experts, bloggers, companies, consultants, etc. It was a phenomenal educational experience and I did my best to network, blog, and learn. Second, I was able to get CME. So, if you're a health care professional and you attended HIMSS10, don't forget to fill out the necessary forms to claim your CME/CE credits.

I miss my family and I'm ready to go home. I have a bag full of toys for the kids since health IT vendors don't follow the PhRMA Code. I have a few stuffed animals, bouncy balls that light up, USB flash drives, and more. These things will keep my kids entertained for at least 20 minutes!

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.   

Inpatient "lessons learned" from health IT implementations (#HIMSS10)

I attended a great education session this morning where presenters shared their "failures and lessons learned" as they implemented health IT in their hospitals. The room was very crowded and quite a few people were standing in the back. The presenters represented the following hospitals and health systems:

• MultiCare
• Children's Hospital Boston 
• Kaiser Permanente in Southern CA

They shared their successes and also emphasized some of the key failures and lessons learned as they implemented CPOE and other health IT inpatient solutions, including:

• Conduct regular interdisciplinary workflow meetings
• Medication reconciliation remains a challenge
• Who owns the MAR when you transition from a paper MAR to an e-MAR? (Medication Administration Record)
• Train, re-train, and then train again
• Physician champions are key
• Involve the nurses!
• Account for variations in clinical workflow in different settings
• Be prepared for verbal orders
• Physicians want to learn from other clinicians
• Re-evaluate and continue to make improvements and refinements

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.   

I'll be on ReachMD today at 5 pm Eastern discussing #HIMSS10

If everything goes according to plan, I'll be on ReachMD XM Radio 160 today at 5 pm (Eastern time) sharing some of my thoughts about the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting. HIMSS has been a great meeting and the educational sessions have been very practical and insightful. The exhibits are elaborate and often entertaining and I see many large companies moving in the direction of creating and offering comprehensive health IT solutions instead of single services or products. So, collaboration is occurring on multiple levels as companies partner to create turn-key solutions for physician groups and hospitals. Health IT solutions are being developed to focus on patient safety and quality.

Stay tuned and listen to ReachMD today at 5 pm to hear some of my thoughts regarding the HIMSS10 conference.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.  

Project HealthDesign selects five teams

TRACKING AND SHARING OBSERVATIONS FROM DAILY LIFE COULD TRANSFORM CHRONIC CARE MANAGEMENT

‘Project HealthDesign’ Selects Five Teams to Test Use of Personal Health Applications to Capture and Integrate Patient-Recorded Data into Clinical Care

Princeton, N.J. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today named five teams selected for an innovative program to explore how patient-recorded observations of daily living (ODLs) can be captured and integrated into clinical care. New technologies, such as smartphones and sensors, make it possible to gather information – such as diet, exercise, sleep patterns, medication usage and pain – from the flow of people’s lives. RWJF, through its Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records national program, has awarded a total of more than $2.4 million to five grantee teams to test whether and how information – such as the stress levels of caregivers of premature infants and medication-taking routines of seniors at risk of cognitive decline – can be collected, interpreted and acted upon by patients as well as clinicians in real-world clinical settings.

Each team will receive a two-year, $480,000 grant. Since 2006, RWJF has committed a total of $9.5 million in grant funds and technical assistance to Project HealthDesign, which is led by a team of experts working in health information technology and patient-centered care at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Verizon Medical Data Exchange announced at #HIMSS10

Verizon Launches IT Platform to Help Accelerate Adoption of Electronic Health Care Records
First-of-its-Kind Platform, Medical Data Exchange, Enables Secure Digital Sharing of Physician Notes

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – In a significant step toward accelerating the adoption of electronic health records, Verizon Business has launched an information technology platform that enables the digital sharing of physician-dictated patient notes.

The Verizon Medical Data Exchange, launched Wednesday (March 3) at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society annual conference in Atlanta, provides a way for medical transcriptionists to share digitized patient notes detailing patients’ care and treatment with doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.  Until now, the lack of an interoperable, nationally available platform has made it difficult to share these notes, which primarily form the basis of electronic health records.

Verizon Business developed the platform for the Medical Transcription Service Consortium under an agreement announced last November.  (See related news release.)  Founding consortium members MD-IT and MedQuist currently are using the platform.  By August, when the Medical Data Exchange is expected to be in use by all of the consortium’s members, 350,000-plus physicians, more than 2,700 clinics and nearly 2,500 hospitals will be supported.

HP Digital Hospital (learn about it here at #HIMSS10)

I heard a great example today of how the HP Digital Hospital Infrastructure can be used to automate several critical steps in the clinical workflow when an OB/GYN prepares a patient for emergent C-section by pushing a single button. If you haven't heard of the HP Digital Hospital Infrastructure, here's a brief description from the HP website:

In a digital hospital, systems and people communicate real time information, improving responsiveness, accuracy and ultimately patient care. Healthcare professionals can receive messages and alerts on their wireless devices about new lab results, outcomes of radiology exams, patient monitoring information, and the location of critical equipment. A digital hospital can extend services beyond its physical boundaries creating a better healthcare experience for the community.

You can learn about the HP Digital Hospital Infrastructure by visiting the HP booth here at HIMSS10 or by visiting this link. The exhibit hall here is absolutely HUGE and you can easily get lost if you forget where you are (Hall B or Hall C). The Georgia World Congress Center is really huge and I'm probably exceeding my 10,000 steps fitness requirement each day.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.

Thanks for attending "Meet the Bloggers" today at #HIMSS10

I really enjoyed the "Meet the Bloggers" session today at HIMSS10. It was an honor to be on the panel along with:

Brian Ahier
Healthcare, Technology and Government 2.0
Twitter: @ahier

Keith Boone
Healthcare Standards
Twitter: @motorcycle_guy

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn
Health Populi
Twitter: @healthythinker

Dr. John Halamka
Life as a Healthcare CIO
Twitter: @John_Halamka

It was also great to meet other bloggers and health IT professionals using Twitter to increase awareness of recent health IT trends, opinions, and news. Thanks again Cesar Torres for organizing this event and inviting me to be a part of the panel discussion. I look forward to doing this again next year at HIMSS11!

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.

Lunch with Sermo's Dr. Daniel Palestrant here at #HIMSS10

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Dr. Daniel Palestrant (Founder and CEO of Sermo) today here at HIMSS10. We had a great discussions today and we talked about physician adoption of EHRs, the use of social media, the evolution of Sermo, our families, and many other interesting health IT topics. Given that the vast majority of physicians are not early adopters of technology, what has made Sermo so successful as an online physician community? It was a really fun discussion given my personal interests in social media and health information technology.

Yesterday, athenahealth and Sermo released data about "Enabling Physicians to Leverage Technology to Improve Patient Care." What do physicians really think about ARRA and HITECH? What are their opinions regarding EHRs and "meaningful use"? Are physician opinions polarized, or are they in unison on these topics? Let's wait to see what type of data athenahealth and Sermo release over the next several weeks.

Daniel shared some great insights about the practical needs of physicians as they relate to practice management, billing, clinical workflow, reimbursement, EHR usability, and more. Through Daniel, I also met Adam Sharp, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Sermo and Jonathan Bush, athenahealth's Chairman and CEO. Thanks again for your time today Daniel. It was a real pleasure to connect and I look forward to chatting again in the future.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.

FCC Finds Gaps in the Current Broadband Infrastructure and Proposes a National Broadband Plan

FCC SHOWCASES HEALTH CARE WORKING RECOMMENDATIONS IN UPCOMING NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN

Includes discussion of connectivity issues that hinder the adoption of Health IT and the transformation of the Rural Health Program to address them

Washington, D.C. – March 2, 2010 – Broadband will play an increasingly important role in supporting health care delivery in the United States. However, the country’s existing broadband infrastructure, reimbursement policies, and regulations inhibit the meaningful use of health information technology to advance health outcomes and lower costs.

A National Broadband Plan being developed by the Federal Communications Commission includes many working recommendations for addressing these shortfalls. With the deadline for delivering the Plan to Congress just two weeks away, the National Broadband Plan’s Health Care Director, Dr. Mohit Kaushal, discussed many of the working recommendations at the HIMSS10 - Healthcare IT Conference and Exhibition” conference on March 2 for the first time.

As part of the announcement, Dr. Kaushal detailed how the FCC is re-vamping its $400M a year Rural Health Care Program to play a critical role in closing the broadband connectivity gap for health care providers while aligning the Commissions efforts with the emerging “meaningful use” criteria being developed at HHS. Dr.  Kaushal explained that the FCC will seek to implement recommendations promptly after the Plan is conveyed to Congress

Join me today at Meet the Bloggers in Room C 201 (3:30 to 5 pm) #HIMSS10

Join me today at Meet the Bloggers in the Social Media Center in Room C 201. I will be there with several other bloggers and it should be a very interesting roundtable discussion about the world of blogging.

Here are the details:

Social Media Center
Room: C201

Tuesday, March 2
3:30 pm – 5 pm

http://www.himssconference.org/education/socialmedia.aspx 

While you're there, make sure to take a photo for the HIMSS Facebook fan page.

Thanks to @MEDecision for a great #HIMSS10 party at the Georgia Aquarium

I really enjoyed the party at the Georgia Aquarium. Thanks again MEDecision! 2010 Grammy winner Colbie Caillat was great! Also enjoyed my conversations with Felasfa Wodajo, MD.  I got to see whale sharks, sting rays, guitar sharks, manta rays, and much more.

Here's a brief description about MEDecision:

MEDecision is a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions. Our technologies are designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy and provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, which can dramatically improve health outcomes.

Eclipsys releases Helios - an open platform (#HIMSS10)

Eclipsys Introduces Open Platform to Transform Health IT and Drive Electronic Health Record Adoption

 Helios By Eclipsys™ Marks Fundamental Shift from Closed, Proprietary Systems; Powers the New Release of Eclipsys Sunrise Enterprise 5.5 to Help Hospitals Meet ARRA Meaningful Use and HIMSS Analytics Stage 7

Atlanta - March 1, 2010 - Underscoring its rich tradition of healthcare technology firsts, Eclipsys Corporation (NASDAQ: ECLP) today announced the release of Helios by Eclipsys™, an industry-defining open architecture platform designed to deliver vendor choice and flexibility to a sector grappling with lagging technology adoption and soaring costs. Moving away from traditional, proprietary operating systems, Eclipsys™ is opening up its platform to provide certified third-party companies open, secure access to common services and visual and data integration. Through Helios by Eclipsys™, healthcare organizations can now utilize best-of-breed applications in an integrated environment with Eclipsys enterprise solutions. The result is reduced costs, enhanced ability to embrace and extend current technology investments, and removal of the technology innovation constraints caused by waiting for a single vendor's development timeline.

#HIMSS10 Physician Synergy Sessions about PHRs (overflowing room)

This morning, I came out of a Physician Synergy Session tiled, "Transactional Patient Portals - What, Why, and How." Eric Liderman, MD, MPH, along with his team from Kaiser Permanente (KP) were discussing some of their experiences with a personal health record (PHR) and the room was packed!

The KP example involved "My Health Manager" and the speakers were presenting some very interesting data from their network of physicians and patients. Here are some interesting tidbits from this session:

• 57% of patients want some type of secure PHR
• over 40% of KP patients are active users of the "My Health Manager" PHR
• The use of this PHR boosted patient retention, satisfaction, and involvement in their health
• Patients are provided with links to a health/drug encyclopedia so that they can learn about their health "at the moment" they are presented with the information
• When the PHR service was provided, patients were very eager to look up their lab results
• The Medicare population is the most active group utilizing online prescription refills (they probably also take the most medications compared to other groups) 
• Exposing data to consumers reveals weaknesses in the clinical process
• Physician advisory boards and physician champions are key to the successful adoption, implementation and use of a PHR

Many major health plans are now reimbursing for "eCare," so if you're a physician and you've been thinking about using secure messaging to communicate with your patients and deliver care, you should look into this. 

#HIMSS10 athenahealth and Sermo Enabling Physicians to Leverage Technology to Improve Patient Care

athenahealth and Sermo Partner with a Common Goal: Enabling Physicians to Leverage Technology to Improve Patient Care

         athenahealth-Sermo Data Shows Physicians Remarkably Optimistic about Electronic Health Records, with 80% Holding Favorable Views of EHRs;

         Despite this 90% Agree EHRs Are Expensive to Purchase and 72% Agree EHRs Still Require Effort to Stay Current with Changing Payment Requirements and Incentives

ATLANTA, GA - March 1, 2010 – athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of internet-based business services to physician practices, and Sermo, the world’s largest online community for physicians, announced at HIMSS10 a partnership that will help gauge and amplify physicians’ views on issues that are affecting the practice of medicine in the United States. In doing so, athenahealth and Sermo hope to enable physicians to benefit from each other’s collective input and improve the financial health of their practices.

At the annual HIMSS conference today in Atlanta, athenahealth and Sermo are previewing physicians’ sentiment on electronic health records (EHRs)—a hot topic as the U.S. government distributes some $19 billion in stimulus for doctors who “meaningfully use” EHRs. These findings are part of a broader Physician Sentiment Index (PSI) to be released by athenahealth and Sermo later this month that explores physicians’ frustrations and opinions on a host of issues that could compromise quality of care in America, such as government involvement and the increasing challenges of running a medical practice. The PSI EHR data is based on responses from 1,000 randomly selected respondents within the Sermo online community.

Findings show a level of optimism and enthusiasm around EHRs, but also reveal a physician community in need of better solutions than are currently available. The clear majority cite EHRs as expensive to purchase. Data also suggests that time to install, effort and cost to maintain, and improvements to a doctor’s efficiency are not where they need to be in order to truly add meaningful business value and free up physicians to focus on patient care.

Would you pick a different EHR if you had to start over?

I meet many physicians who are unhappy with their current electronic health record (EHR) solution. Some were early adopters and they chose a system that was relatively inexpensive. Others are using systems that are simply too complicated or cumbersome to use. Is the grass greener on the other side if you switch to a new EHR platform?  Or, will you simply get confronted with a different set of headaches or frustrations?

• Is your current EHR certified by the CCHIT? 
• Do you qualify for financial assistance through the HITECH Act? 
• Do you have a specific EHR system that you'd like to get?
• Are you willing to use a free EHR?
• If you work in different offices, how many different EHRs are you currently using?

I'm sure that many physicians wish they could simply start over. Once you invest time, money, and energy into an EHR, it's very difficult to make a change.  However, maybe it makes sense to switch if you're going to qualify for some of the financial incentives tied to the HITECH Act if you can demonstrate "meaningful use" and also leverage e-prescribing.