Using EMRs to improve Efficiency : Video

Using Electronic Medical records in managing medical practices provides a number of benefits, especially in smaller practices where it is much easier to introduce. A few of these benefits include efficient and portable patient care management, lesser errors and improved patient safety.

See how one private practice made the change to electronic medical records and hear how the new technology has changed the office’s workflow and staffing levels.

Though this video has been created by Intel, it is a generic video describing the benefits of EMRs to physician practices and does NOT sell anything.

Related articles

• Electronic medical record (EMR) – review of pros and cons in Cleveland Clinic medical journal (casesblog.blogspot.com)
• Using the EMR to reduce ventilator associated lung injury (doctorrw.blogspot.com)
• A Family Physician’s EMR Experience (thehealthcareblog.com)

 

Virtual Healthcare Center in Second Life

Image via Wikipedia

IBM Virtual Healthcare Island. 


The island is a unique, three-dimensional representation of the challenges facing today’s healthcare industry and the role information technology will play in transforming global healthcare-delivery to meet patient needs.

The IBM Virtual Healthcare Island is designed with a futuristic atmosphere and provides visitors with an interactive demonstration of IBM’s open-standards-based Health Information Exchange (HIE) architecture. Working with project leads in the U.S., the island was designed and built by an all-IBM-India team.

Starting from the patient’s home, they create their own Personal Health Records (PHRs) in a secure and private environment and watch as it is incorporated into an array of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems that can be used at various medical facilities. As they move from one island station to the next, they experience how the development of a totally integrated and interoperable longitudinal Electronic Health Record (EHR) is used within a highly secured network that allows access only by patient-authorized providers and family members.

IBM’s Healthcare & Life Sciences (HCLS) Industry will continue to develop the new island in months to come.  The island can perform as a virtually “always on” demonstration tool for IBM’s sales personnel.  A video version of the island is also under production.

Related articles

• EHR Spending To Hit $3.8 Billion In 2015 (informationweek.com)
• Autonomy Announces Meaning Based Healthcare for Healthcare Delivery Organizations (prnewswire.com)

 

Health IT Initiatives at USF Health

University of South Floria Health Center has made good use of the health IT stimulus money to push the campaign to go completely Paperless. And then some more.

So now work is done with touchscreen pads and electronic prescribing systems. You can play, view, and download lectures, news, seminars, music and other USF Health-related media on your iPod, Mac, PC or MP3 player. New talent is recruited online via the Center for Transformation and Innovation

A video report on Tampa Bays leadership in Health IT with the Paperfree initiative

.

• USF Health News Center

• USF- Health on Social Media

                    

 

Medical Error Rates Reduce Seven Fold with Electronic Prescribing !

There is a growing consensus that the implementation of health information technology should lead to more efficient, safer, and higher quality of care. The ever increasing burden of record keeping, to comply with the numerous regulations, makes shifting to Electronic prescribing a very attractive option. 

The benefits of shifting to EMRs and CPOEs are enormous.

• Less Paperwork
• Better Evidence based care
• Better Data collection
• and of course LESS ERRORS.

An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to a study of 37 million patient records by HealthGrades

“For e-prescribing adopters, error rates decreased nearly sevenfold, from 42.5 per 100 prescriptions at baseline to 6.6 per 100 prescriptions one year after adoption. For non-adopters, error rates remained high at 37 per 100 prescriptions at baseline and 38 per 100 prescriptions at one year.


Illegibility errors were very high at baseline, and not surprisingly, were completely eliminated by e-prescribing (87.6 per 100 prescriptions at baseline for e-prescribing adopters, 0 at one year). Prescribing errors may occur much more frequently in community-based practices than previously reported. This study findings suggest that stand-alone e-prescribing with clinical decision support may significantly improve ambulatory medication safety.

 References:

 Electronic Prescribing Improves Medication Safety in Community-Based Office Practices. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2010.

(via)Electronic Prescribing Decreases Prescribing Errors Seven Fold:

Also read-

Electronic Medical Records Help Reduce Medical Errors