Medical Records Institute to launch EHR report card

The Boston-based Medical Records Institute plans to introduce a selection tool called EMRCompare at its annual TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) conference in Dallas May 19-23. (N.B.: MRI makes a distinction between EMRs and EHRs, but Medical Economics does not.) The comparative data will be available on its website (www.medrecinst.com) following the conference.

Independent judges nominated by specialty societies will rate products based on cost, features, security, training, and "user acceptance/friendliness." The product categories will include EHRs designed for offices of 1-3, 4-9, and 10 or more physicians, as well as web-based systems and those created for hospital-affiliated groups. The judges will rely on information supplied by vendors, except in one category: "User friendliness" will be rated by judges and TEPR attendees during the conference's "clinical documentation challenge." Later on, MRI hopes to integrate feedback from EHR users on its website, says Meg Bowen, the institute's director of marketing.

EMRCompare will join several other EHR rating services, including those of KLAS, the AC Group, the AAFP, and HIMSS (see "The best EHRs for small practices," Sept. 1, 2006).