Managing Your Practice, EHR

Electronic Medical Record Deployment: The Mercy Physicians Medical Group Experience

Health information technology (HIT) and specifically the electronic medical record is about to burst onto the scene in private practices throughout the nation. Buoyed by passage of President Obama’s stimulus package, the HITECH Act, the ARRA, and the recent award of a $15 million Beacon Grant to UC San Diego, San Diego practices need to start planning their paths through the IT maze, which is peppered with potential pitfalls.

Federal EHR Certification Rule

For more information, visit healthit.hhs.gov/tempcert.

Background

In order to receive electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA” or the “Stimulus Bill”), physicians will have to demonstrate “meaningful use” of a “certified” EHR system.

Electronic Records Would Improve Americans' Health

For much of his retirement, my father traveled back and forth between New York and Florida, joining many other so-called snowbirds who spend their winters playing golf in the Sunshine State. But five years ago, my father became ill. My father's New York physician assumed he had received the recommended pneumococcal vaccine in Florida. His Florida physician assumed he received the vaccine in New York.

April 2009 "San Diego Physician"

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Features The Secret Sauce of Office Practice Redesign Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH The Internet Sandra Shalometh, MA, MSN, RN, CPHRM and Robin Diamond, JD, RN Electronic Records Would Improve Americans' Health Robert Pearl Boy Slices His Wrist on His Snowboard — Five Hours Later … Richard A. Brown, MD The Infobutton Craig Haynes HIT Stimulus Could Bring $3 Billion in New Funds to California The California HealthCare Foundation The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR1) The American Medical Association (AMA) E-prescribing Resources Lauren Wendler Electronic Health Record Buyers Stephen H. Carson, MD Cloud Computing and Healthcare Ofer Shimrat Place Matters to Your Patients’ Health Wilma J. Wooten, MD, MPH Interview With Natalie Germuska, RN, MSN "San Diego Physician" Magazine Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Lynette Cederquist, MD Candidate Statements (2009) CMA Advises MDs to Begin EHR Needs Assessment Process Now CMA The Medpedia Project • Medpedia.com Palmetto Denials • Filling Out Forms for Patients • Enrolling in Medicare Marisol Gonzalez The Coming of Age of Phlebology Nisha Bunke, MD

A New “Millennium” in EMR

With a new hospital on the horizon, Sharp HealthCare is launching a comprehensive electronic medical record system (EMR) in its hospitals and medical groups. “EMR is an emerging national trend and a necessary next step to advancing patient care,” said Rick LeMoine, MD, medical director of Sharp HealthCare. “Not only does our position as a market leader insist that we unify our systems, but so does our goal of quality care.”