EMRs Defined
What They Are and What They Aren't
As more and more healthcare providers are introduced to medical office software, the term EMR (electronic medical record) is almost becoming a household term.
Synonyms that are also recognized include EPR (electronic patient record), EHR (electronic health record), and CPR (computerized patient record). But the casual and blanket use of a fairly specific term to describe any software tool used in patient care overlooks the functionality promised by a true electronic medical record.
A product that may admirably perform one of the elements required in providing patient care falls noticeably short of being any sort of electronic medical record. While it may be inexpensive (sometimes free) and relatively non-disruptive to implement such a tool, the net result in terms of efficiency and productivity is very small. The current pervasiveness of discrete tools that provide small, incomplete solutions reflects shortsightedness, and fails to consider the broader needs of today's healthcare providers: increased efficiency and productivity, improved quality of patient care, optimized compliance with regulatory and contractual requirements, and enhanced capability of meeting patient demands and expectations.
It is a logical extension of this concept that even a powerful charting application, while delivering the capability to enhance patient care and perhaps enhance productivity, is incomplete without integrated practice management functionality. A charting application fails to streamline workflow when diagnosis coding must be completed post-encounter, or coding information must be re-entered for billing purposes. Similarly, patient information entered during appointment scheduling or registration should pass automatically to a clinical charting system, if duplication of data entry is to be avoided.
The conclusion to be drawn when all these factors are considered, especially from the point of view of the health care provider, is that an EMR, if it is to provide a comprehensive solution for today's practice environment, must be an integrated set of clinical and practice management applications. The product should streamline workflow efficiency, improve adherence to treatment standards, provide detailed financial practice analysis, enhance patient education and interaction, and optimize compliance with regulatory and managed care guidelines.
Most producers of medical practice software do not offer products that meet this definition, and those that do are prohibitively priced. In fact, many of the integrated EMR vendors avoid marketing to the healthcare provider segment that will benefit most from EMR adoption: practices of 6 or fewer providers (of which there are some 60,000 in the U.S.).
e-MDs offers the functionality and comprehensive solutions that providers need with