Practice Technology

Planning any holiday-season electronic health record systems shopping? A key standards-setting health information technology nonprofit has some recommendations about where you may want to start.

Two major health insurers and two technology companies have partnered to offer an electronic prescribing service to Florida physicians for free.

The Medical Group Management Association criticized a Medicare quality reporting initiative, complaining that the program doesn't provide guidance on how to improve patient outcomes and creates an administrative burden on practices.

Both major-party candidates for president have voiced general support for health informatics to help achieve return on investment, reduce medical errors, and improve efficiencies and service quality.

Health-care IT seems to be the new issue du jour for Congress. On Sept. 15, Rep. Pete Stark (D-California), the namesake of the anti-kickback medical referral law, unveiled a bill to establish a nationwide health-care IT infrastructure, but the measure faces competition from two other similar bills already under consideration.

Overwhelmed by the number of electronic health record vendors out there? A research and consulting firm offers an in-depth look at 10 of the major vendors for the ambulatory care market and highlights the top performers for features, flexibility and physician satisfaction.

A former orthopedic surgeon has created a company dedicated to helping physicians navigate the choppy waters of purchasing the right electronic health records system - for free.

How do PHRs benefit your practice? We spoke to PHR experts and doctors who are using the systems about the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating them into their practices.

One struggling group practice turned its fortunes around by improving its billing procedures.

From timetables to training, implementing a new system is more about people than computers.

The Google PHR that debuted in May connects to an impressive list of healthcare organizations. But the rival PHR from Microsoft has landed a big fish called Kaiser Permanente.

Only four percent of physicians use a fully functional EHR that satisfies federally promoted certification requirements, while another 14 percent have basic systems.

If you want to better understand why less than 20 percent of doctors have implemented EHRs, visit the website of a vendor called Extormity, dedicated to offering "highly proprietary, difficult to customize and prohibitively expensive" software.

The pace of EHR implementation has been excruciatingly slow.

Here's one more reason why the feds are pushing for a nationwide health information network--the ability to scour millions of electronic records and catch unexpected drug side effects as soon as possible.

A new study from the AC Group identifies seven EHR vendors that give you the most digital bang for your buck.

Your choice of EHRs is slowly narrowing down as the number of vendors shrinks. That makes shopping easier.

Hospitals have a federal green light to help you pay for an EHR, but one little restriction could limit the number of programs eligible for a discount.