Health Information Technology
The American Medical Association (AMA) has numerous resources to assist physicians with their questions about Health Information Technology (HIT).
Electronic Health Records
- Learn about EHR systems – EHRs can help physicians and office staff better navigate patient information before, during and after an office visit. For more information, refer to the AMA’s resources on Health Information Technology (HIT) and electronic health records and electronic medical records to find out how your practice can take advantage.
- Medicare/Medicaid incentive programs and “meaningful use” – for more information on Medicare/Medicaid EHR incentive program and the requirements for demonstrating “meaningful use,” please visit the AMA’s HIT incentive program resource and, “Guidance on earning electronic health records incentive payments” (chapter 6 of the AMA’s ACOs, CO-OPs and other Options: A ‘How-to’ Manual for Physicians Navigating a Post-Health Reform World).
- Selecting the best EMR/EHR system for your practice - Procuring an electronic medical record (EMR) or EHR system for your practice can be an intimidating process with the many facets of these systems and the multitude of EMR/EHR vendors currently available. How do you select the one that’s best for your practice? The AMA has created the educational resource, "15 questions to ask before signing an electronic medical record or electronic health record agreement, " to help you assess your practice’s needs and determine which vendor will best meet those needs.
- AMAGINE® physician portal - Take steps to qualify for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentives ("Meaningful Use") by using systems that provide web-based electronic health records with practice management functionality or that link to your current practice management system, to help create an end-to-end solution for your office.
Call us today at (800) 262-0411 to discuss these solutions or take the practice assessment. - Vendor directory helps you select a practice management system - Are you looking for a new practice management system or an upgraded system that can integrate with electronic health records? The AMA‘s Practice Management System Software (PMSS) vendor directory can help get the information your practice needs to select the right software for your practice.
The AMA and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) offer this free resource for their members as a complement to the recently released, "Selecting a Practice Management System" toolkit.
Built on specific responses to survey questions posed to vendors, this directory can make your search for practice management system software easier. AMA and MGMA members can query, filter options and print out detailed vendor responses to all survey questions.
Visit www.ama-assn.org/go/pmsoftware to access the vendor directory and its related toolkit resources today.
ePrescribing
- Zero-In RX™
See how ePrescribing helps ensure quality care and improve efficiency, while helping your practice earn thousands of dollars in Medicare incentives. Visit the AMA's ePrescribing Learning Center to learn more about ePrescribing.
For information on Medicare's ePrescribing incentive program, please visit the AMA's HIT Incentive Program resource.
Other resources:
Physician practices use patient registries to keep track of patient services and conditions and alert the practice when additional services are needed. A well-organized registry will have the ability to support the provision of best practices to all patients with similar conditions, as well as to alert patients when they are out of compliance for a prescribed regimen.
Providing superior medical care is clearly an art as well as a science. Yet even in medicine, there are many best practices which can be adopted in treating patients. Although no one treatment regimen is likely to be applicable 100 percent of the time, many regimens are clearly the preferred course of treatment for a majority of patients. Clinical support tools help physicians identify those best practices when appropriate.
Health information exchanges (HIEs) are organizations that supply the connectivity to allow for the electronic exchange of health information. HIEs offer the potential to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care through the exchange of clinical data at the point of care. However, because there is wide variance in HIE models, services and structure, it is critical for physicians to be fully informed on this topic before signing an HIE contract.
