HCPro.com: Electronic Health Records Briefing

"Electronic Health Records Briefing" is a monthly newsletter that offers HIM supervisors, directors, and managers practical advice on legal concerns, testing and training, physician buy-in, return on investment, change management, and every other topic related to the electronic record transition. It includes sample tools, forms, and policies, advice from legal and technical experts, and lessons from your peers in the industry, all provided to help you clear out from under the mountain of paper records into the new electronic realm.

To view the entire newsletter issue, click the “View Entire Issue” link below

October 2007 (Volume 3, Issue 10)	view entire issue

Understand EHR entry authentication
EHR entry authentication is essential for compliance and to ensure your records are legally sound. The term "authentication" can mean different things to different people in healthcare, but simply put, authentication is a process that ensures users are who they say they are, says Deborah Kohn, MPH, RHIA, FACHE, CPHIMS, principal of Dak Systems Consulting in San Mateo, CA. It prevents unauthorized users from accessing data or using another person's identity to sign documents.

Move to patient-centered care grows slowly
A movement toward patient empowerment is changing the healthcare environment. As consumers become more involved in their care, patient-provider relationships must evolve. "Patient-centered care puts the patient in the middle of how care is designed and provided. It provides patients with access to their medical information and empowers them to be active participants in care decisions and in the daily management of their health and illnesses," says Teresa Zayas Cabán, PhD, senior manager of health IT at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD.

Ensure ambulatory implementation success
Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. Part two will appear in the November EHRB. If you're preparing to implement EHRs in an ambulatory setting, be sure to lay the proper groundwork first. From planning the implementation and experimenting with systems to assessing readiness and transitioning from paper to electronic records, successful implementation requires thorough preparation and a willingness to evolve, say Laura Jantos, FHIMSS, principal of ECG Management Consultants in Seattle, and Salvatore Volpe, MD, FAAP, FACP, CHCQM, president of Oakwood Medical Consultants in Staten Island, NY. Jantos and Volpe spoke at the May Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society virtual conference.

Computer-assisted coding may be wave of the future
Editor's note: Because automation in work flow is a current topic of interest for everyone in the healthcare field exposed to the EHR, this month's issue is featuring a review of one of the more cutting-edge technologies: computer-assisted coding (CAC). Long gone are the days of tedious manual-based coding in which coders didn't have the luxury of access to encoders or the Internet. Today's coder is savvy in the ways of the electronic world-a world in which computers play a large role in the day-to-day coding routine.

Tackle work-flow changes with a plan
Planning and implementing an EHR or electronic document management solution (EDMS) involves many critical phases. Some of these are technical and require setting up tables, indices, work queues (also sometimes called work flow, confusingly enough!), interfaces, and multiple other "builds." Other phases depend on good leadership, project management, and general change-management skills (e.g., job description revisions, education and training, communication updates, project scope monitoring, etc.).

Other recently-published articles from Electronic Health Records Briefing:

Protect your EHR security and confidentiality

Consider these five areas where your EHR implementation efforts could fall short

Build your very own EHR dream team

Perform careful preparation when implementing an EHR in an ambulatory setting

Develop a training plan prior to your EHR rollout

Design an effective change management plan for EHR implementation

Tackle work-flow changes with a plan

Computer-assisted coding may be wave of the future

Ensure ambulatory implementation success

Move to patient-centered care grows slowly

Understand EHR entry authentication

CCHIT creates site for NHIN standards

Prepare HIM for EHR implementation

Share data correctly with standardized procedures

Create an EHR-capable facility from the ground up

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