Practice Technology

Stage 3 of the Medicare/Medicaid meaningful use electronic health records (EHRs) should not move forward until challenges associated with stages 1 and 2 have been studied and addressed, according to formal comments submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology by the American Medical Association.

Has the devastation of Hurricane Sandy led you to think about how your practice could handle a natural disaster? Here are some tips for protecting your practice and you.

After you meet stage 1 meaningful use requirements, you'll be looking toward stage 2 challenges. Here's what you need to know.

A new year means new challenges for your practice. Here are 10 issues that you may have to face.

Medical Economics readers discuss the potential for errors through e-prescribing.

Moving into the technology age isn't without growing pains, according to results of a new survey from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Mobile electronic devices offer a lot of benefits to your practice, but the devices pose data privacy issues. Discover what you need to keep patient information protected.

It's 2013, and the time has come to look forward to how healthcare reform will work. Here are four trends to look at throughout this year.

An electronic health record (EHR) system won't just help you keep accurate, neat patients records. If your practice's Web site has a patient portal, an EHR also will allow your patients to have access to their information.

A look at Medical Economics' EHR Best Practices Study shows that integration is continuing, but room for improvement still exists.

Implementation isn't the only thing that you need to do to successfully use an electronic health record system. Here's a look at what you need to do to measure productivity.

Two physician in our EHR study share key lessons about EHR implementation.

About 72% of physicians have adopted electronic health records, up from 48% in 2009.

Spear phishing is a new way that hackers obtain patient data. Learn how to protect your practice's records.

The biggest reason to adopt technology isn't that the government wants it. It's to keep up with what your patients want.

Wondering what gadgets can help your practice? Here's a round-up of some of the latest products.

Medical Economics readers discuss the hassle of pre-certification, advise new doctors to avoid primary care, talk about serving as a mentor, look at why physicians continue practicing, and argue that electronic health record systems should be rejected.

As more providers access patients' medical data on mobile devices, security concerns are increasing.

E-prescribing has increased dramatically since 2008, according to a data brief recently released by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Research recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that online visits could produce similar outcomes as in-office visits for a limited number of conditions.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs safeguards to ensure that all of the $6.6 billion in payments it expects to make through its EHR incentive program from 2011 to 2016 are justified, according to an Office of Inspector General report.

Data breach investigations increased more than 44 times from 2010 to 2011, and most could easily have been prevented, according to a new study from Verizon.

More than 80% of Medical Economics' EHR Best Practices Study participants have successfully implemented their systems as the study approaches the 1-year mark. The participants share how the systems have affected their practices.

Five of Medical Economics' EHR study participants discuss meaningful use.

Medical Economics readers discuss meaningful use and how going cash-only was a positive change for one practice.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has re-opened the window to file for exemptions to avoid the Medicare e-prescribing penalty in 2013.

Medical Economics readers discuss the issue of reimbursement, governmental bureaucracy, and the need for connectivity standards.

Electronic prescribing increases patient safety, eliminates interpretation errors from handwritten prescriptions, and creates a communication bridge between the physician, pharmacist, and patient, according to experts.

George Ellis Jr., MD shares information about three medical applications that he finds particularly useful.

A look at how one state set up a network where clinicians could securely exchange medical records.