Successfully Choosing Your EMR: 15 Crucial Decisions -- Table of Contents -- Endorsements -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Why This Book is Needed -- EMR Adoption Has Become a National Priority -- The General Approach to EMR Adoption -- Who This Book is For -- About the Authors, MSP & EMRs -- Regarding Trademarks -- CHAPTER 1: Why Adopt Electronic Medical Records Now? -- EMR Adventures -- Why Hasn't EMR Been More Widely Embraced? -- The Benefits of Adopting EMR Systems -- Why is Timely Action Imperative? -- What About Open Source EMR Solutions? -- Proprietary EMRs -- EMR Terminology and Conceptual Evolution -- Thoughts for Smaller, Rural Hospitals -- Thoughts for Solo Practitioners -- Can EMRs Improve Patient Satisfaction? -- It Has to Be the Ideal EMR for You! -- Broaching the EMR Adoption Subject -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 2: How EMR Will Enhance your Practice -- EMR Adventures -- Improving the Patient Experience Using EMRs -- Engaging Your Staff in Envisioning an EMR Solution -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 3: How EMR Will Impact your CPM System -- EMR Adventures -- Practice Workflow Optimization -- E&M and Billing Codes - Can EMR Talk To CPM? -- Integrated Versus Interfaced Solution -- Avoiding Software Generation Changes -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 4: Structured Data & Report Generation -- EMR Adventures -- What Will It Be for Your Office? -- Structuring Inferred from the Billing Level -- Structure at the Clinical Level -- Quality Reporting Requires Structure -- Is Electronic Patient Record a Valid Business Document? -- Trying to "Structure" Freeform Data Entry -- How User Interface Preference Infers Structure Level -- And Now Back to... EMR Adventures -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 5: Interacting With Your EMR -- EMR Adventures -- Different People, Different Interface Preferences -- Selecting Staff EMR User Interface(s).

Structured Pick List Approaches -- Handwriting Recognition Approaches -- Dictation with Speech Recognition -- Document Scanning Approaches -- Multiple User Interaction Approaches -- EMR Product Demonstrations -- The Big Picture -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 6: Where to Deploy Your EMR -- The Fork in the EMR Deployment Road -- EMR Adventures -- In-Office Network Requirements -- Web-based SaaS ASP Considerations -- Web-based EMR Responsiveness -- In-Office, Client-Server EMR Deployment Model -- The ASP Blended Model -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 7: Vocabularies, Standards & Interoperability -- EMR Adventures -- Clinical Information Capture vs. Charting Speed... and the Winner is? -- Standardized Medical Terminology (Vocabularies) -- NCVHS Standard Nomenclatures -- Proprietary (EMR Developer) Interface Terminologies -- Structured Speech Recognition Solutions -- Audio File Formats -- Terminologies vs. Billing Classification Codes -- Use of Standards -- Lab Data Interoperability Standards - ELINCS 2 & LOINC -- Image Data Standards (DICOM) -- Image Formats Supported by Scanning -- Adobe PDF Used as Medical Document Wrapper -- Simplified, Conceptual Data Flow Sequence -- Standard Documents and Semantic Interoperability -- Standardizing Medical Documents -- Getting Legacy Paper Record Summaries Into EMRs -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 8: Interoperability Beyond EMRs -- EMR Adventures -- The Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) -- Overview of the Three Layers -- Transferring Hospital Patient Data Into Attending Physician EMRs -- Layer Two - The Data Exchange Layer -- Layer Three - The Nationwide Specialized Layer -- Patient Authorization - Clandestine Data Mining -- The Rise of Standards Committees -- Key Players in NHIN Standardization Efforts -- Web-Based EMR Interoperability -- Congress and Healthcare -- Obstacles Remain -- Wrap Up.

CHAPTER 9: Workflow Enhancement/EMR Customization -- EMR Adventures -- What Went Wrong? -- Workflow Transcends EMRs -- Contrasting WfME and Static EMR Workflow -- WfME EMR Detractors -- A Fork-in-the-Road Decision -- Demonstrations to Assess Workflow -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 10: Documenting Your Office Workflow -- EMR Adventures -- Determining Practice Workflow Bottlenecks -- Preparing for the Physician Office Workflow (POW) Study -- The Study Kick-off Meeting -- When Not to Combine Work Items -- Populate the Encounter Form with Work List Items -- Dependencies and Gating Factors -- Enhanced Workflow Opportunities -- What to Do When You Finish Documenting -- Handling Variations of a Single Encounter Type -- Handling More Than Three Variations -- Costing Your Office Workflow -- Summing Up the Encounter Work Lists -- The Grand Total Affair -- EMRs & Medicare Fraud - Friend or Foe? -- One More Thing -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 11: Essential Medical Record Content -- EMR Adventures -- Medical Record Content: The Heart of the EMR -- Verifying Medical Content With EMR Demos -- Prioritizing Your Medical Record Content Requirements -- Task 1 - Data Collection & Reporting -- Task 2 - Chart Content Organization & Presentation -- Task 3 - Clinical Decision Support -- Task 4 - Sharing Data With Other Providers -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 12: Evaluating Vendor Stability -- EMR Adventures -- Approaching the Topic of Stability -- Market Consolidation Implications -- Integration of EMR/CPM Drives Developer Consolidation -- Source Code License or Open Source EMR? -- How to Determine the Stability of an EMR Developer -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 13: Lawyer-Proofing Your EMR -- Acknowledgment -- EMR Adventures -- The Current Legal Context for EMRs -- Important Legal Functionality -- Are Electronic Records Credible? -- Learn More, Get Help - Excellent Resources.

Protect Your Patients From Medical Identity Theft -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 14: Configuration & Deployment -- EMR Adventures -- Facing Your Technical Apprehensions -- What You Don't Know About Computer Technology (and More) -- The Physiology of EMR Technology -- Windows Server OS Versions -- Thin Client Server Variation -- (AC) Power to Your Practice -- Backup Internet Services for Your Office -- The Blended (Office-Web server EMR Model) -- IP Network Signaling -- Centralized Network Devices -- About the Router -- Firewall Role and Purpose -- Wireless (WLAN) - Your Alternative Network -- Essential Software and Utilities -- Summary of Good Network Operating Practices -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 15: Crisis Planning & Mitigation -- EMR Adventures -- Unexpected Events Happen -- Principle One: Have a Current File Backup -- Principle Two: Deploy EMR Fileserver Undelete Program -- Principle Three: Make Sure That Your Practice Has AC Power -- Principle Four: Have a Second, Independent Internet Connection -- Principle Five: If it Breaks, Swap it Out -- Principle Six: Incorporate Duplication Into Your Networks -- Principle Seven: Configure Computers to Have Swappable Boot Drives -- Principle Eight: Quickly Isolate the Scope of the Problem -- Principle Nine: Force the Problem to Move -- Principle Ten: Obtain Online Help When You Need It -- Principle Eleven: Solving the Network Speed Issues -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 16: Protecting Your Patient Data -- EMR Adventures -- Keep Your Office Safe, Secure and HIPAA-Compliant -- The Challenge - Keeping the Bad Guys Out -- Hardware Configuration Resources -- Incorporate Surveillance -- Build Your Weapons Arsenal -- Firewalls - Stop Stealth Data Flow In/Out of Practices -- Securing Your Wireless Network (WLAN) -- Take Control - Borrow from the Classroom -- When to Diagnose and Fix Problems -- Whitelisting -- Authentication.

Data Encryption -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 17: What You Can Expect to Spend -- EMR Adventures -- Cost - The Crucial Bottom Line -- Overall EMR System Costs -- Establish a Preliminary Budget -- Software -- Hardware -- Practice Renovations -- Training and Consulting Costs -- Don't Know Yet List -- Enter Uncle Sam -- ARRA (HITECH) Legislation Augments Stark Incentives -- Wrap Up -- CHAPTER 18: Negotiating the Agreement -- Negotiation Control -- It Begins With Your RFI, Followed By Your RFP -- Lock Down the Details in the RFP -- Purchasing/Licensing Agreement Summary -- MSP/Andrew EMR Benchmark Norms -- Wrap Up -- APPENDIX I: EMR Developers & Their Products -- APPENDIX II: List of Conferences to View EMRs/EHRs -- APPENDIX III: Using the MSP EHR Selector to Compare EMRs -- The MSP EHR Selector™ and the MSP ESP Portal™ -- Selecting an EMR is Like Buying a House -- Finding All Matches to Any Set of User Criteria -- Wrap Up -- Index.