Practice Technology

Running a physician practice is a lot different-and substantially more challenging-than it used to be.

Today’s physicians are busier than ever tackling high-volume schedules, chasing quality metrics and interpreting scads of data flowing into the electronic health record (EHR) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A new report reveals that 69% of healthcare providers are using patient engagement to get patients more involved in their own care, but its authors suggest that number should be closer to 100%.

With a major hack of an insurance company’s database having made front-page news not long ago, it’s natural that many physicians think first about electronic data when they think about protecting patients’ private health information (PHI).

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.