Frequently Asked Questions
What is an EHR?
An EHR is a software application that enables health care providers and institutions to record, access and analyze patient medical information in a digital format. An EHR captures and manages patient health care information in a way that is more efficient, accessible and secure than traditional paper-based medical record systems.
Why should physicians adopt EHRs?
For the physician, an EHR provides functionality that supports all the clinical tasks that occur throughout the cycle of care--computerized physician order entry (CPOE), real-time, point-of-care clinical decision support; maintenance of problem and allergy lists, ePrescribing with automated drug utilization review, vital sign charting and tracking, lab and radiology test results reporting, automatic generation of clinical summaries, and clinical care reminders.
An EHR can:
- Integrate with your practice management system to help you streamline the business side of your practice
- Report events relevant to public health and safety
- Enable the secure, authorized exchange of patient medical information between health care systems
- Offer providers secure remote access to medical records when and where they are needed
- Provide a patient portal to enable patient control of personal health records and facilitate patient/practice communications.
How can an EHR help improve patient safety?
An EHR system can help reduce errors related to illegible handwriting on treatment orders and/or prescriptions, inadequate or incomplete patient information, or a lack of specific knowledge required to make a fully-informed clinical decision at the point of care.
What is “Interoperability,” and how does it work?
Interoperability is an EHR’s ability to transmit and receive data using standardized data protocols. When health information systems are able to securely and reliably exchange information, they are considered interoperable. “Certified EHRs” are compliant with national standards for interoperability, security and patient privacy.
Can an EHR impact the practice bottom line? A study reported by The American Journal of Medicine found the net financial benefit of implementing a full electronic medical record system was $86,400 per provider over a five-year period. Of this total, savings in drug expenditures made up the largest proportion of the benefits (33% of the total). Almost half of the total savings came from a combination of decreased radiology utilization (17%), reductions in billing errors (15%), and improved charge capture (15%).
Right now, the federal government is providing compelling financial incentives for the adoption of EHR technologies. Provisions within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) – known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) – authorized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to offer financial incentive payments to eligible physicians for the “meaningful use” of certified EHRs. Beginning in 2011, providers certified for meaningful use can receive up to $63,750. The exact amount is dependent on the provider’s volume of Medicare and Medicaid patients. For more information, see these fact sheets from CMS:
Additionally, eligible physicians using ePrescribing and participating in the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) can receive $6,000 to $8,000 annually.
What is the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative? The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) is a physician quality reporting system that offers government incentive payments for eligible physicians who satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered professional services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries. In order to receive the benefit payments, physicians must provide PQRI quality indicators to CMS for a specific reporting period. EHRs are designed to automatically track PQRI quality indicators, thus facilitating physician participation in the program – and improving the quality of care.
How is patient health information protected in an EHR? Certified EHRs are required to comply with privacy and security regulations mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients rights regarding control of that information. The Privacy Rule was designed to enable the appropriate sharing of personal health information with authorized stakeholders involved in patient care.
Where can I learn more about meaningful use of electronic health records? New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) has developed a resource to help you get the answers to the most common questions about meaningful use of electronic health records. To find out more, click here.
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