Thursday, February 25, 2010
Today's Healthcare Discussion with the Republicans
Today's summit between Dems and Repubs over the Healthcare bill really in my opinion get us anywhere now (Today). They did however get to open up discussions on both sides to where we got to hear some clear ideals and ideas on where each side stood. I was glad to hear Eric Canter say that the majority of the American people do not want this because of costs, but was disappointed when Obama responded in a method of we will deal with that later, almost feeling he was shrugging it off. Us Americans do not need the cost of the bill when there are other ways of going about restructuring HealthCare. Let's start with changing some of the things we can easliy fix in small incremental bites. That way it can be done right. Goes with the old attage, "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: One small bite at a time.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Explaination of PHP vs. EHR
Patient education is so important today especially when it comes to communicating with your physician. You need to almost sometimes be a mind reader or even a translator to determine what maybe wrong with you. Thank Goodness for electronic medical records.
Electronic Medical Records (or as some refer to as EHR Electronic Health Record) is important to know and important have your physician help you understand. In order for good health standards, certain documents, labs, prescriptions, images, and clinical data will be in your electronic chart. In the past everything used to be in a manila folder, parsed off by color coded separators. Now everything is stored safely and securely via hospital or practice database. Such vendors for EHRs are Allscripts, NextGen, eClinicalWorks, EPIC and GE Centricity (the big 5).
PHP or Patient Health Portal is an application source that allows the patient to initiate conversations, set up appointments, renew prescriptions, etc. directly with the practice staff or provider, without having to go in for a face to face visit. This system is usually encrypted from the patient side as well as the provider side, to ensure patient privacy security. The really nice thing about these applications is that they are accessible via web browser and usually only require a user id and password to work.
There are some questions you should be asking your provider/staff at the practice to ensure your safety and privacy; I will list below.
The average EHR implementation will run approximately $25,000-$40,000 per provider, so don't think this is an overnight process, and that it comes cheap. The average investment and implementation cost of a PHP is much less.
That can range from $10,000-25,000 for the complete set up. But keep in mind, in order to have a useful PHP, there must be an EHR on the other side.
Instructions
Things you’ll need:
• Checklist of symptoms
• secure email setup
• Provider using Health Information Technology
1. Step 1
Ask your Provider to share or review your chart with you to make sure all the information is correct and updated. This should be done on a yearly basis. Taking time for a 30 minute visit is better than the alternative if data is wrong and you receive the wrong medication because you didn't let the provider know of an medication allergy . "Be honest with your Doctor, it serves you better in the long run."
2. Step 2
Secure Database on location and off location back up
Make sure the software or EHR is CCHIT certified. CMS (Medicaid )puts out strict guidelines in order for these softwares to contain certain secure administrational features that include such things as integratable interfaces (HL7 code that allows other softwares to share information), ability to lock down notes and charts to none authorized personal, and a secure database location.
3. Step 3
Make sure when signing up for the PHP, that the system requires a multi sequence password, example: P@1ti3nt; letters, symbols and numerics. This will allow your password to be a harder password to crack. There are a few that contain these features; Medem's i-Health, Vecna Medical, and Meditab.
4. Step 4
Make sure you as a patient take personal responsibility for your health. Remember, the physician and staff are there to resolve issues not babysit what you eat, when you exercise and if you are taking your medications. Good patient care begins with the patient.
Tips & Warnings
• For more information use the reference links below to help answer questions in more detail.
• Please keep in mind that CCHIT certification changes every year so software certifications maybe outdated, but know that you can always check the CCHIT website for listings.
Resources
• CCHIT Resource
• Health IT Gov
• Meaningful Use
Electronic Medical Records (or as some refer to as EHR Electronic Health Record) is important to know and important have your physician help you understand. In order for good health standards, certain documents, labs, prescriptions, images, and clinical data will be in your electronic chart. In the past everything used to be in a manila folder, parsed off by color coded separators. Now everything is stored safely and securely via hospital or practice database. Such vendors for EHRs are Allscripts, NextGen, eClinicalWorks, EPIC and GE Centricity (the big 5).
PHP or Patient Health Portal is an application source that allows the patient to initiate conversations, set up appointments, renew prescriptions, etc. directly with the practice staff or provider, without having to go in for a face to face visit. This system is usually encrypted from the patient side as well as the provider side, to ensure patient privacy security. The really nice thing about these applications is that they are accessible via web browser and usually only require a user id and password to work.
There are some questions you should be asking your provider/staff at the practice to ensure your safety and privacy; I will list below.
The average EHR implementation will run approximately $25,000-$40,000 per provider, so don't think this is an overnight process, and that it comes cheap. The average investment and implementation cost of a PHP is much less.
That can range from $10,000-25,000 for the complete set up. But keep in mind, in order to have a useful PHP, there must be an EHR on the other side.
Instructions
Things you’ll need:
• Checklist of symptoms
• secure email setup
• Provider using Health Information Technology
1. Step 1
Ask your Provider to share or review your chart with you to make sure all the information is correct and updated. This should be done on a yearly basis. Taking time for a 30 minute visit is better than the alternative if data is wrong and you receive the wrong medication because you didn't let the provider know of an medication allergy . "Be honest with your Doctor, it serves you better in the long run."
2. Step 2
Secure Database on location and off location back up
Make sure the software or EHR is CCHIT certified. CMS (Medicaid )puts out strict guidelines in order for these softwares to contain certain secure administrational features that include such things as integratable interfaces (HL7 code that allows other softwares to share information), ability to lock down notes and charts to none authorized personal, and a secure database location.
3. Step 3
Make sure when signing up for the PHP, that the system requires a multi sequence password, example: P@1ti3nt; letters, symbols and numerics. This will allow your password to be a harder password to crack. There are a few that contain these features; Medem's i-Health, Vecna Medical, and Meditab.
4. Step 4
Make sure you as a patient take personal responsibility for your health. Remember, the physician and staff are there to resolve issues not babysit what you eat, when you exercise and if you are taking your medications. Good patient care begins with the patient.
Tips & Warnings
• For more information use the reference links below to help answer questions in more detail.
• Please keep in mind that CCHIT certification changes every year so software certifications maybe outdated, but know that you can always check the CCHIT website for listings.
Resources
• CCHIT Resource
• Health IT Gov
• Meaningful Use
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