Benefits of Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Posted by AMS at 29 NOV 8:09 am

Medicine is an information-rich enterprise. A greater and more seamless flow of information, aided by electronic health records (EHRs) (sometimes referred to as electronic medical records), can transform health care by organizing it around the patient. With EHRs, a patient’s information is available whenever and wherever it is needed.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, represents the Nation’s first substantial commitment of Federal resources to support the widespread adoption of EHRs.

Better Decisions and More Coordinated Care with EHRs
With more complete patient information, providers improve their ability to make well-informed treatment decisions quickly and safely.

Moving Beyond the Paper Record
By making it easier to use and share information, EHRs can help health care providers do a better job of managing patient care.

When fully functional and exchangeable, the benefits of EHRs offer far more than a paper record can. EHRs can:
• Improve quality and convenience of patient care
• Increase patient participation in their care
• Improve accuracy of diagnoses and health outcomes
• Improve care coordination
• Increase practice efficiencies and cost savings

Source: www.healthit.gov

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 18 NOV 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of Mark Hennessy, MD from Floresville, TX to the AMS client community.

Dr. Hennessy previously used AMS at another practice. After moving and opening a new office, he contacted AMS still interested in our software solutions. The doctor went through a web demonstration of each AMS system including the electronic medical records to see all of the new features and improvements AMS had implemented since he last used AMS. He was very pleased and anxious to become an AMS client once again.

Welcome Dr. Mark Hennessy from all of the staff at American Medical Software.

Sharing EHR data results in $2M in savings across Memphis EDs

Posted by AMS at 15 NOV 8:42 am

MEMPHIS, TN – Sharing electronic health information across every major emergency department in the Memphis, Tenn., area resulted in reduced hospital admissions, reduced radiology tests and an annual cost savings of nearly $2 million, according to a recent study conducted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The study was released Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

“The Financial Impact of Health Information Exchange on Emergency Department Care,” led by Mark Frisse, MD, professor of Biomedical Informatics, is the nation’s first city-wide study of the impact of widespread health information exchange (HIE) data access in emergency departments.

“This is the first study to show that, on a city-wide basis, investments in technology can save medical costs by improving care,” Frisse said. “We took the ‘Tennessee simple’ approach and built a low-cost system that said, ‘Folks, if you do it simply and build it up, doing the right thing can save you money.’”

HIE represents the transformation from provider-centric collection of healthcare information to a more comprehensive, patient-focused view of this information, allowing electronic health records to be exchanged with other care providers and patient-authorized entities.

Patient privacy protection within the system is “as rigorous and secure as any commercial electronic health record system,” said Frisse.

“It makes available only the information you choose and it can only be used when you are needing care,” he added. “It is far more secure and useful than paper, even if it was all in one place. Health information exchange ensures that we know exactly who has looked at it, when, where and why. So it is accountable to you.”

Vanderbilt researchers studied all encounters in which HIE data were accessed in all 12 major emergency departments in Memphis over a 13-month period and matched those encounter records with a similar encounter record in which HIE data were not accessed.

Outcomes studied were ED-originated hospital admissions, admissions for observation, laboratory testing, head CT use, body CT use, ankle radiographs, chest radiographs and echocardiograms.

Clinicians used the technology voluntarily and only when they felt it was necessary for the patient – about seven in every 100 cases. When HIE data was accessed, it was associated with a significant decrease in CT scans and hospitalizations.

“Our people believe that the savings from this study are less than 2 percent of the overall savings these technologies can afford if every physician’s office is connected,” said Frisse. “And we are absolutely convinced and committed to extending this approach to every healthcare setting.”

Frisse sees the study data as being a national model of how to take the first step.

“Emergency department care is such a very small part of our healthcare system, but the same value of complete information realized in emergency department settings is even more applicable when an elderly patient goes to multiple doctors without a single, comprehensive medical record,” he said.

“It is the first step in showing that if you give physicians the tools to collaborate, they will voluntarily do the right thing for you, and they will save you money and your quality will improve. These are very busy emergency department physicians. They had to go look it up and they did it because they care.”

Source: www.healthcareitnews.com; Bernie Monegain; November 8, 2011

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 11 NOV 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of New Horizon PPM, Inc. from Amarillo, TX to the AMS client community.

Tammy Simms of New Horizon PPM sat through a personalized web demonstration of the AMS software. She was relieved to know that some of their existing “unique” reports they currently run will still be available through the AMS system by an ODBC connection using Crystal Reports. Our data conversion service will also help aleviate re-entering of old data into her new, AMS system.

Welcome to New Horizon PPM, Inc. from all of the staff at American Medical Software.

AMS Clients Now Receiving ARRA Stimulus Checks!

Posted by AMS at 8 NOV 12:04 pm

Many AMS clients who attested for “Meaningful Use” earlier this year are now receiving their first ARRA stimulus checks! A recent survey of AMS clients showed many more practices in the process of attesting while others plan to attest in 2012.

All of these clients are taking advantage of their fully integrated, completely certified AMS software by implementing and utilizing it to its fullest potential. These clients are demonstrating how successful any practice can be with AMS as their software provider.

It is not too late for practices without software to learn more about “Meaningful Use” and how they too can benefit not only from the ARRA stimulus reimbursements but also a more efficient, paperless medical office.

For more information, contact American Medical Software directly at 800-423-8836.