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Articles
System
Selection
A
Step-by-Step Approach to Choosing an Information
System
- No matter how much things change, some things seem to stay
the same. That old saying especially applies to having a good plan
for selecting a new information system. Fourteen years ago
many facilities were getting computerized for the first time because
of the new resident assessment requirements. We've come a long
way, but the basics still hold true.
Once you find out the basics
of what you need to set up your software search plan, ask the
experts about the how the
latest web-based technology can help make your software selection
decision easier than it has ever been before.
This article provides basic
information
that you can use to create any easy checklist to help you
discover what it takes to succeed in your selection of a
healthcare computer software product and the correct hardware
solution for your organization.
System
Implementation
From Paperwork To Patient
Care
- With the ever present need to reduce healthcare costs, yet increase the
quality of client care, it is inevitable that healthcare
providers will adopt the usage of Electronic Medical Record
software, or EMR, to perform patient charting in the doctors office, in hospitals and
other acute care settings. Physicians, and the allied health professionals they work with, are currently leading
the transition of healthcare providers in this arena through the use
of wireless devices attached to their practice's local area network
(LAN) with charting software integrated with their existing practice
management systems.
The
Computed-based Patient Record, or CPR, as it is also known, is also
making inroads into other portions of the healthcare continuum
including long-term care where human and financial resources are
often scarce and improving resident quality of care is always a
fundamental goal. Nursing homes are beginning to adopt the
electronic medical records system as a means of helping them meet
this goal while relieving nurses and other disciplines from long
hours of hand-writing progress notes.
Implementation of EMR technology is a healthcare information
system trend that will accelerate in the coming years either
voluntarily, or involuntarily through increasing needs imposed by liability insurance carriers, health plan payor requirements and government regulations or scrutiny. This article details a case history of
how one skilled nursing facility researched and successfully
implemented a computertized resident charting system and how they
accomplished their goals of reducing costs and increasing quality of care for their residents. Adopting an EMR allowed this facility to get back to their primary mission...namely taking care of people.
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