Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 3 FEB 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of Sinclair Surgical and Breast Clinic from Davenport, FL to the AMS client community.

Sinclair Surgical had been looking for medical software for quite some time before contacting AMS and deciding to schedule a web demonstration with our sales staff. Our fully trained sales staff offers the best personalized web demonstrations possible to help showcase the tremendous benefits of our software in a physician’s practice. After going through a web demonstration of the AMS software, Sinclair Surgical expressed just how impressed they were with the amount of customization found within the AMS system and our electronic medical records. They were equally impressed with the ability to import images and diagrams into the AMS system so that the doctor can draw on them directly from within the software! With zero complaints about the AMS system, Sinclair Surgical knew that AMS would be the best choice for medical software.

Welcome to Sinclair Surgical and Breast Clinic from all of the staff at American Medical Software.

Study: Electronic Health Records Can Improve Care

Posted by AMS at 31 JAN 8:25 am

Electronic health records are helping physicians provide better care for patients with various health conditions. The results discussed below are from a study regarding the effect of electronic health records and the outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Use of electronic health records shows promise for improving care and outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, but still has considerable room for improvement, according to a new study in the journal Health Services Research.

With the U.S Department of Health and Human Services currently offering incentives for medical practices to move their records to electronic systems—and Medicare payment penalties to those who don’t convert by 2015—doctors and hospitals are increasingly incorporating these tools into their practices. However, the notion that electronic health records can improve care measurably has been under significant debate, said study co-leader Jeph Herrin, Ph.D., of Yale University.

“What’s unknown is whether moving to an electronic health records system would actually improve health outcomes,” he said. “So far, different studies have shown different results.”

Seeking more evidence, Herrin, co-author David Ballard, M.D., Ph.D., and their colleagues took advantage of two concurrent initiatives at the HealthTexas Provider Network, a northern Texas primary care medical group subsidiary of Baylor Health Care System. The first is a long-term effort made by the group to collect health data on their diabetes patients. The second is the roll out, started in 2006, of an electronic health record system to the Network’s nearly 100 clinics.

Herrin and his colleagues followed 14,051 diabetes patients from 34 group clinics over a four-year period. They looked at optimal diabetes care as a whole as well as individually examining each of five measures of diabetes management: HbA1c (a measurement that indicates average blood sugar control over time), LDL cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, aspirin prescription and non-smoking status.

They report that over the rollout period, the 29 practices that had the electronic health record system saw 6,376 diabetic patients. Comparing those exposed to the system to those that were not, the researchers found a significant improvement in all of the variables except for HbA1c and LDL cholesterol in the electronic health records group.

Source: www.news-medical.net; January 30, 2012

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 27 JAN 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of Alissa Abentroth, MD from Helena, MT to the AMS client community.

Dr. Abentroth, like many other AMS clients, was referred to our software through the AMS Referral program. This program rewards individuals with 10% of the purchase cost (up to $1000) should a physician or practice that they referred, purchase the AMS system. To this day AMS has paid over $25,000 in referral commissions!

Welcome Dr. Alissa Abentroth from all of the staff at American Medical Software.

Meaningful Use to Reach New Heights

Posted by AMS at 24 JAN 7:48 am

WASHINGTON – “In 2012, meaningful use will soar,” National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari asserted at the Jan. 10 meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee.

“Meaningful use will continue to be the cornerstone of our activities,” he told committee members. “We can expect to see the numbers continue to rise,” he said of participants in the federal incentive program for electronic health records adoption.

“We’re going to do everything we can to ensure that every provider can be successful at meaningful use,” Mostashari said. “Vendors and providers are going to be asked to step up to the challenge – and it is a challenge. But, it’s a challenge well worth meeting.”

Also in 2012, Mostashari predicted interoperability and exchange would be the “second and more complex challenge,” following meaningful use. The emphasis will be on containing the costs and reducing the risks and liability of exchanging health data. Information “will flow at the speed of trust,” he said.

In 2012, the business case for care coordination, which requires the exchange of healthcare information, will be driven by payment reform, not only through federal efforts, but also by the way states and private plans will pay providers. “As we increase the value of data exchange and reduce the cost, information will flow,” Mostashari said.

The health IT czar said exchange would go slowly at first, with providers sharing only with providers they know on a first-name basis. “It will then go from a trickle to a flow, to a flood, as trust builds over time,” he said.

Consumer health IT will be a another emphasis for this year, with the government looking to find ways to encourage the uses of consumer eHealth, apart from EHRs, Mostashari said. “EHRs can improve patient self-management.”

Last, but not least, Mostashari said quality measurements are slated for emphasis this year. “Across the entire lifecycle of quality measures, there is lots of work to be done.”

“We will be moving forward on the next generation of quality measurement,” he said. “We need the infrastructure for measuring quality, but also for improving quality.”

Mostashari conceded that many of this year’s goals are the same as last year’s, only on a grander scale.

“There’s a lot on the table for 2012. There will always be some challenges we meet better than others. Looking back on 2011, it was our biggest [EHR adoption] year to date; 2012 will be even bigger,” he said. “We got here by being pretty good about staying true to our principles. This doesn’t mean we can’t be bold, but have to keep our feet on the ground.”

Source: www.healthcareitnews.com; Diana Manos; January 11, 2011

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 20 JAN 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of Sarasota Children’s Clinic from Sarasota, FL to the AMS client community.

Sarasota Children’s Clinic contacted AMS and scheduled a personalized, online web demonstration of the AMS software. They were impressed with the ability to verify eligibility from within the Medical Management System and were also impressed with the amount of customization allowed in the encounter note templates found in the Electronic Medical Records System. After reviewing many competing medical software systems, Sarasota’s Children’s Clinic felt that the AMS, fully certified, “Meaningful Use” ready system was the best choice for their software needs.

Welcome to Sarasota Children’s Clinic from all of the staff at American Medical Software.