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

May 2007 (Volume 3, Issue 5)	view entire issue

Medical identity theft raises new questions for EHRs
In the electronic world, medical identity theft-including theft involving insurance information-is a game-changing phenomenon. Not only does this type of theft rob patients of their identity, it also compromises the integrity of medical records, either through fraudulent claim submission or fraudulent insurance use. Thieves can change blood type, prescription, disease history, and psychological history information. Medical identity theft is an information crime that can bring physical-even-life threatening-harm to its victim. With the boost in information-sharing, this healthcare-related crime is drawing plenty of attention from the American public and mainstream media. In fact, the media and watchdog groups are already asking new questions.

OIG audits focus on security; watch your EHRs
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) says it is in the process of conducting HIPAA audits of covered entities. A hospital in Atlanta confirms that the OIG audited the facility and that it looked at technical aspects of the security rule. This isn't surprising, says Reece Hirsch, Esq., partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP, in San Francisco. "From a political standpoint, there's been a perception that [HHS] has been less rigorous than it might have been in enforcing all aspects of HIPAA," he adds.

Revive a stalled implementation project with 'quick wins'
Editor's note: This article is the second in a two-part series. If you're already in the middle of your implementation but haven't done the proper prep work, you should go back and take care of the details now. Last month, EHRB explained why some projects don't work-cultural resistance to change and failure to do the "hard work" up front. "The secret to success is thorough preparation," said Susan Ordway, senior director of HIT services and manager of the Doctors Office Quality Information Technology (DOQ-IT) program for quality-improvement organization (QIO) Masspro in Waltham, MA. Ordway spoke during the February Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in New Orleans.

Healthcare system trains 11,000 in 18 months
Learning and communication are the core of facilitywide implementation Editor's note: This article is the second in a two-part series. Evanston (IL) Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) is an integrated, academic healthcare system comprised of three hospitals, 851 beds, and 65 group practices. When ENH decided in 2001 to go electronic, training was a major part of the initiative-and it involved nearly 11,000 staff members. Luckily, ENH had Chief Learning Officer Jane Dowd to lead the effort.

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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