Back in 2009, President Obama signed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. It gave the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services authority to create programs designed to improve the level of safety, efficiency, and quality of the health care delivered in this country by focusing on developments in health information technology. To that end, the government is making an effort to promote and encourage medical practices to start using such important tools as electronic health record software and electronic health information networks.

The following excerpt is from an article found on MedScape. It was written by Betsy Nicoletti. The US healthcare community is moving to ICD-10 in October 2015. There will be 70,000 choices of diagnosis codes alone, instead of a mere 16,000 choices currently available to describe a condition, illness, injury, or symptom. Coders are delighted. Physicians, not so much. But despite the notice and preparation, there are things that could go amiss.

The following excerpt is from an article found on The Business Journals. It was written by Mike Sabitov. The latest data breach of Premera Blue Cross, exposing the medical data and financial information of 11 million customers, offers the industry a solemn reminder that it simply isn’t doing enough to protect patient data from known security threats. If a business has any contact with electronic health records or medical information, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance and patient data security should be a prime concern. That’s because government regulations mandated by HIPAA states that the all protected health information must be strictly protected — and any breach of such information must be reported immediately.

You’ve spent an enormous amount of time attaining your position as a medical professional. Besides the years of college training and time spent as in intern as you made your way up the ranks to your current status, you have to constantly keep up with medical journals, attend conferences, and learn about the latest technology and drug protocols. Many physicians have a secret fear that they will become irrelevant, which could lead to a drop in stature and an erosion of self-confidence. With this in mind, here are three tips for physicians who want to stay relevant.

You’ve handpicked a fine staff, and you know that they have the same feelings of loyalty for you that you have for them. It’s important to periodically remind your team how valuable they are to you and your patients. To reinforce the value you place on them, part of your duties should involve reviewing what you can do to help your staff and lighten their burdens. The more you help your staff, the more you can help your patients.

The following excerpt is from an article found on Medcity News. It was written by David Harlow. The Meaningful Use - Stage 3 proposed rule has been released, with official publication due on March 30. Likewise, the 2015 edition of EHR certification criteria and related rules. Check out the CMS presser and ONC fact sheet. Key to these rules, which lay the foundation for a post-Meaningful Use incentive-driven Health IT ecosystem, is the use of APIs - for the uninitiated, "application programming interfaces" - or simplified connectors that allow for easier transfer of data. The Meaningful Use requirements have themselves been simplified -- whittled down to eight high-level requirements, expressed as program goals or objectives:

So, your medical organization has decided to take the plunge and transition from an antiquated paper-based system to an electronic medical records software solution. The trouble is, you are low on time and want to make sure that you will only be looking at EMR software that has the most useful features. It can take some time to make sure you understand the ins and outs of EMR applications and what options you should expect to find when you implement this software in your office. To that end, here are five features that the best EMR software will have.

Not all medical practices will adopt emerging technology at the same rate. Some organizations have more resources and more forward-thinking people on their payroll, which means that they will use the latest software and technology solutions to make things easier on their staff and patients. Your behavioral/mental health practice may still rely on using an outdated, paper-based system to keep things running. However, this is an approach that you cannot expect to hang onto for very long, given the complexities of treatment protocols and the ever-increasing connected nature of healthcare providers.

The following is an excerpt from our whitepaper, "The Importance of Patient Engagement & Why You Need It." Today it is difficult to think of an industry that does not take advantage of computers, internet access, and specialized software to get work done faster and more efficiently. That, combined with the fact that people (patients) are so accustomed to using computers and smartphones to access and provide information is why they are often surprised when the front desk staff at their medical practice hands them a heavy clipboard with a stack of paper forms to fill out. After all, shouldn’t a medical practice - almost more than any other type of business - be better automated than that?

One of the signs of people who are true professionals is that they are seldom satisfied with the state of their business or the development of their abilities, skills, and knowledge. While you strive to maintain a certain level of service and abilities for each staff member, you know that the medical field is constantly evolving. New techniques become available to help us diagnosis and treat patients as well as to measure how well a particular treatment protocol is working. This means that medical organizations are always in a state of development, with team members needing to stay current on discoveries in their field as well as what current industry best practices are in their niche.