Practice Technology

It’s easy to get lost in the ever-evolving landscape of the telehealth marketplace.

For this year’s Medical Economics EHR Report, we wanted to get right to the heart of the matter regarding what’s working and what’s not with electronic health record systems, so we went to the experts: you, our readers.

Physicians expect more from their electronic health records (EHRs). These systems were supposed to provide efficiency and troves of useful data, enabling doctors to manage patient populations and meet the demands of quality care. But EHRs are lacking in all of these areas.

Independent physicians are concerned about data security, but feel they are limited as to what they can do to protect it.

Despite widespread unhappiness, surprisingly few practices say they plan to change their EHR system. Here’s why.

Federal reimbursement changes are coming, so physicians need to ensure that data collection tools are up to the task.

The healthcare information technology (HIT) marketplace-not Congress-should solve the problems with technology to aid physicians, according to electronic health record (EHR) vendors.

Keeping up with Dr. Google is exhausting.

Exchanging information is vital for quality patient care in an era of technology-based medicine, but progress is lagging.

The troubling reality is that review sites like Yelp and Healthgrades often attract patients who are more likely to air grievances, rather than praise. In other words, it’s a near certainty that every physician and medical practice will encounter a fair share of negative patient reviews.

Finding the right match is critical, so be sure to find the vendor that can offer something that complements your current practice operations.

Post-implementation management strategies can ease the adjustment to a new system.

Security risk assessments are difficult, but necessary.

Treating patients remotely requires the same diligence as face-to-face encounters, experts say.

This is normal...right?

Sometimes we get so focused on the “now” that we forget to look back. It’s a bit like this with electronic health records: The focus tends to be more on the challenges than on the benefits.

A recent American Medical Association (AMA) study shows that physicians spend 37% of their time on electronic health records (EHR) or desk work while meeting with patients.

The states of Arkansas and Texas rate last and next-to-last in telemedicine practice standards, an issue that has gained prominence in the medical community in recent years, according to a recent report by the American Telemedicine Association.

There’s no doubt about it: Physician burnout is real and it affects an alarming number of us across the nation. While physicians focus on their patients, the practice environment is filled with invisible stresses that weigh on physicians and cause burnout.

Medical groups need to spend a lot of money to outfit, maintain and manage health information technology in their practices-more than $32,500 per year in for every single full-time doctor in the practice, according to a recent study.

Providers who are still adjusting to the ICD-10 coding transition from five characters to seven have a variety of amenities and advice available to them in the last leg of the grace period.

Why ChartLogic Medical Billing Services? Read about the differentiators and benefits of choosing ChartLogic as your billing partner.

New advances can boost the physician-patient relationship, rather than create barriers.

When it comes to investing in IT and data security, the healthcare field has been known to lag behind other business sectors. That underspending, coupled with the massive shift from paper to digital records in recent years, has put the industry in some crosshairs.

Physicians can sometimes be hesitant to begin hosting video visits because they are weary about just how effective the technology can be when treating patients. However, once physicians start using telemedicine, they are often shocked at how versatile video technology can be as an additional tool to administering care.

Completing these crucial tasks before you switch from an old electronic health record system to a new one can help ensure a successful implementation.

Doctors share the biggest mistakes, missteps and oversights they made when switching from one EHR to another.

What’s changing about coding in October, and what physicians need to do to prepare.

If you have yet to hear about Pokémon Go, the new app that is taking over the world-it topped 15 million downloads in just its first week-you probably will or have already started seeing its results in the form of your patients.

As older adults adopt social media physicians and caregivers can utilize this as a way to improve communication and connectedness with older adults reduce some of the loneliness and social isolation experienced by this population.