November 4, 2009 by Atul.

As has been the trend, the upcoming EMR seminars in Palo Alto, CA  and Fremont, CA  this month (Nov.) have been sold out. This is not surprising and perhaps limiting the class size has not allowed more MD’s and their staff to join. These seminars, arranged by EMRseminars ( a service of PreviMed), are very different from many others because:

• These are painstakingly vendor-independent. (No kickbacks, no conflicts, No Stark Law issues).

• The content of the whole seminar is targeted for physicians and their office managers , especially in small group practice settings.

• the seminar is very comprehensive, spans everything from vendor selection to productivity impact to how/where to build disaster recovery for patient records to interoperability/flexibility.

For instance, what will the physician/practice do if the vendor goes out of business? Of course, no vendor will want to answer such a query.  

Similarly, what if the host hospital gets acquired by a large hospital chain and, as a result,  switches the EMR philosophy. What kind of disruption will it cause to a small group practice? And what can be done - apriori  (in advance) - to mitigate the downtime?

Finally, what should you pay attention to when you sign the agreement with te EMR vendor? Can you discuss the software defects or other performace issues - which could potentially impact patient safety - with your colleagues in other cities?

These are some of the questions that get discussed and addressed in our seminars;

 Hope you can catch some of the future sessions.

Posted in training, seminars, EMR incentive, EMR, PreviMed-General | No Comments »

April 12, 2009 by Atul.

We want to share our big lesson from HIMSS - the mega event in Chicago which concluded just a couple of days ago.  

No, it is not about avoiding the long taxi lines to get out of the McCormick (tho’ it does have us wondering about Chicago’s bid for the Olympics and how there’s more work to be done there).  

At HIMSS, which was attended by over 29,000 attendees, there was palpable eagerness on the part of vendors - and who can blame them, given the economic conditions? 

What was unsettling, though, was that some of these - including some EMR vendors - were desperate and eager to bag a customer, even if it meant fudging a bit and resorting the usual FUD scare tactics.

One sales creature on the exhibition floor was observed to tell a prospect how penalties (for not starting with the EMR) would start in 2010.   

Of course, this is untrue.  Penalties don’t start till 2015, with summary details and copious detailed info here.

The sales professionals who try to convert prospects with such tactics are only harming their own companies - After all, EMR decision is not going to be an impulse buy like purchase of a DVD. When the physician or office manager finds out that there is no penalty imminent, they will only be distrustful of the company that told them otherwise.     

So, the message of this post? For the EMR selectors, buyers and users (typically physicians or their representatives): Take your time. EMR decision has a long term  implications ; Understand what you are getting into; Do your work , not just the snapshot of today’s environment but also about how you expect your work to change in the future.

-And don’t get forced into a rushed decision. This is far too important. 

If you need help with the EMR selection process, feel free to contact us. This is what we do and we have guided many.   

Posted in ARRA, HIMSS, EMR incentive, EMR, Quality, trade groups, Uncategorized | No Comments »