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EHR Bridge Technologies – Clinical Messaging
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Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours
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Hybrid Health Records
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Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms
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HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them?
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Interoperability: What Does It Mean?
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HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR
Thursday, July 23, 2009
EHR Bridge Technologies – Clinical Messaging (3:48 PM)
EHR Bridge Technologies – Clinical Messaging
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-PA
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Bridge technologies are use to fill gaps where EHR components are missing and may support cross-enterprise connectivity. One of the most common bridge technologies used to connect physician offices with hospitals, aside from systems used to order diagnostic tests and retrieve results, are clinical messaging systems. Clinical messaging systems “provide connectivity between a hospital and the offices of its medical staff members” according to Margaret K. Amtayakul, MBA, RHIA, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition. She further defines clinical messaging as the secure transmission of clinical information between organizations and across the continuum of care. Physicians can bridge technologies like clinical messaging to communicate not only with hospitals, but with other providers, patients, payers, and other health care organizations. Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) also employ these technologies.
Source: Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-PA
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Bridge technologies are use to fill gaps where EHR components are missing and may support cross-enterprise connectivity. One of the most common bridge technologies used to connect physician offices with hospitals, aside from systems used to order diagnostic tests and retrieve results, are clinical messaging systems. Clinical messaging systems “provide connectivity between a hospital and the offices of its medical staff members” according to Margaret K. Amtayakul, MBA, RHIA, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition. She further defines clinical messaging as the secure transmission of clinical information between organizations and across the continuum of care. Physicians can bridge technologies like clinical messaging to communicate not only with hospitals, but with other providers, patients, payers, and other health care organizations. Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) also employ these technologies.
Source: Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA
Labels: EHR
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours (2:02 PM)
Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Most practices will need to make a decision about whether to use multiple vendors or a single vendor for all of their health information technology (HIT) system needs. For example, some vendors have products in their suite for e-prescribing and electronic health records (EHR), where other vendors might offer only an EHR product or e-prescribing product.
According to Margaret K. Amatayakul, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, "[b]est of fit, or single source, is a scenario in which the products in one vendor's suite of products are integrated or fit well together and it is difficult to introduce other vendors' products. Best of breed is a situation where the best products are selected from various vendors. Unless best-of-breed products are open source, meaning the source code is readily available, is technology neutral, and does not restrict use of another software, it can be difficult to get them to communicate with one another."
There are several case studies available on the internet that discuss how different healthcare organizations decided between best of fit or best of breed.
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Most practices will need to make a decision about whether to use multiple vendors or a single vendor for all of their health information technology (HIT) system needs. For example, some vendors have products in their suite for e-prescribing and electronic health records (EHR), where other vendors might offer only an EHR product or e-prescribing product.
According to Margaret K. Amatayakul, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, "[b]est of fit, or single source, is a scenario in which the products in one vendor's suite of products are integrated or fit well together and it is difficult to introduce other vendors' products. Best of breed is a situation where the best products are selected from various vendors. Unless best-of-breed products are open source, meaning the source code is readily available, is technology neutral, and does not restrict use of another software, it can be difficult to get them to communicate with one another."
There are several case studies available on the internet that discuss how different healthcare organizations decided between best of fit or best of breed.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hybrid Health Records (12:54 PM)
Hybrid Health Records
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
We are all clear about the definition of an electronic health records (EHR), but sometimes where hear about hybrid health records? According to the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) e-HIM Workgroup, a hybrid health record is a system with function components that include both paper and electronic documents and use both manual and electronic processes. Oftentimes, health care organizations will move toward full EHR use through a phased approach where both paper and electronic records are being used. For example, a practice may have all its lab, radiology, and other diagnostic test results in an electronic record, but progress notes are still hand-written. Another practice may scan all paper documents related to the medical record and catalogue them within the EHR system while also maintaining a paper chart. Both of these examples could be considered a hybrid health record.
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
We are all clear about the definition of an electronic health records (EHR), but sometimes where hear about hybrid health records? According to the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) e-HIM Workgroup, a hybrid health record is a system with function components that include both paper and electronic documents and use both manual and electronic processes. Oftentimes, health care organizations will move toward full EHR use through a phased approach where both paper and electronic records are being used. For example, a practice may have all its lab, radiology, and other diagnostic test results in an electronic record, but progress notes are still hand-written. Another practice may scan all paper documents related to the medical record and catalogue them within the EHR system while also maintaining a paper chart. Both of these examples could be considered a hybrid health record.
Labels: AHIMA, EHR, hybrid health records
Monday, June 15, 2009
Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms (1:22 PM)
Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
In discussions about health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHR), the terms confidentiality, privacy and security are often misused. An excerpt from Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA, provides a clear explanation:
…[I]n the healthcare context, privacy is usually understood to mean the right of individuals to limit access to information about their person…[c]onfidentiality…refers to the expectation that information shared by an individual with a healthcare provider during the course of care will be used only for its intended purpose…Security can be defined as the protection measures and tools for safeguarding information and information systems.
Reference: Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
In discussions about health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHR), the terms confidentiality, privacy and security are often misused. An excerpt from Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA, provides a clear explanation:
…[I]n the healthcare context, privacy is usually understood to mean the right of individuals to limit access to information about their person…[c]onfidentiality…refers to the expectation that information shared by an individual with a healthcare provider during the course of care will be used only for its intended purpose…Security can be defined as the protection measures and tools for safeguarding information and information systems.
Reference: Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA
Labels: confidentiality, EHR, HIT, privacy, security
Friday, June 5, 2009
HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them? (2:57 PM)
HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them?
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
An excerpt from Margaret K. Amatayakul in her text, Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, explains that
HL7 is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited SDOs operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance (claims processing) transactions. HL7s domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is not only the name of the SDO, but also the standard it has produced. The HL7 standard consists of rules for transmitting demographic data, orders, and patient observations, such as lab results and H&P exam findings, in addition to rules for appointment scheduling, referrals, problem list maintenance, and care plans. HL7 continues to be revised and new versions are released so it can remain relevant in the digital age.
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has recommended HL7 as the core standard. More information about HL7 can be found at http://www.hl7.org/.
References:
Health Level Seven, http://www.hl7.org/
Electronic Health Records, A Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA, FHIMSS
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
An excerpt from Margaret K. Amatayakul in her text, Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, explains that
Within healthcare, standard protocols that support communication between
applications are often referred to as messaging standards, also called
interoperability standards or data exchange standards. Messaging standards
provide the tools to map proprietary formats to one another and more easily
accomplish the exchange of data. Some of the standards development organizations
(SDOs) also are incorporating semantic interoperability into their standards.
This means they are making accommodations for embedding standard vocabularies as well as standard syntax in their messages.
However, because the standard protocols developed to date have often had a lot of optionality, full interoperability has not always been possible. When this occurs, or when a vendor does not use a standard protocol in its application development, an
interface must be written to achieve interoperability between the two
applications….[i]nterfaces can be costly to develop and depend on cooperation
from the often-competing vendors of both applications that are attempting to
exchange data.
HL7 is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited SDOs operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance (claims processing) transactions. HL7s domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is not only the name of the SDO, but also the standard it has produced. The HL7 standard consists of rules for transmitting demographic data, orders, and patient observations, such as lab results and H&P exam findings, in addition to rules for appointment scheduling, referrals, problem list maintenance, and care plans. HL7 continues to be revised and new versions are released so it can remain relevant in the digital age.
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has recommended HL7 as the core standard. More information about HL7 can be found at http://www.hl7.org/.
References:
Health Level Seven, http://www.hl7.org/
Electronic Health Records, A Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA, FHIMSS
Labels: ANSI, EHR, HIT, HL7, NCVHS, Standards
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Interoperability: What Does It Mean? (8:02 AM)
Interoperability: What Does It Mean?
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
As explained by Margret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, basic interoperability is the ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share data. However, interoperability has been further defined in healthcare by the Office of the National Coordinator(ONC), Connecting for Health, and others to mean:
· The ability to exchange patient health information among disparate clinicians and other authorized entities in real time and under stringent security , privacy and other protections (ONC 2005b)
· The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged (NAHIT 2005)
· The ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities (HIMSS 2005)
· At the application level, interoperability means the capacity of a connected, authenticated use to access, transmit and/or receive/exchange usable information with other uses (Connecting for Health 2005)
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
As explained by Margret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, basic interoperability is the ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share data. However, interoperability has been further defined in healthcare by the Office of the National Coordinator(ONC), Connecting for Health, and others to mean:
· The ability to exchange patient health information among disparate clinicians and other authorized entities in real time and under stringent security , privacy and other protections (ONC 2005b)
· The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged (NAHIT 2005)
· The ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities (HIMSS 2005)
· At the application level, interoperability means the capacity of a connected, authenticated use to access, transmit and/or receive/exchange usable information with other uses (Connecting for Health 2005)
Labels: EHR, EMR, HIT, Interoperability
Monday, June 1, 2009
HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR (9:39 AM)
HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR
Emily Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
According to Kathleen M. LaTour and Shirley Eichenwald-Maki, authors of Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, Second Edition, health, or healthcare information technology (HIT) is a term that encompasses the technical roles that process health data and records, such as classification, abstracting, retrieval, and so on. LaTour and Eichenwald-Maki define Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a form of computer-based health record in which information is stored in whole files instead of by individual data elements and a computerized record of health information and associated processes, respectively.
Emily Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
According to Kathleen M. LaTour and Shirley Eichenwald-Maki, authors of Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, Second Edition, health, or healthcare information technology (HIT) is a term that encompasses the technical roles that process health data and records, such as classification, abstracting, retrieval, and so on. LaTour and Eichenwald-Maki define Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a form of computer-based health record in which information is stored in whole files instead of by individual data elements and a computerized record of health information and associated processes, respectively.
Labels: EHR, Electronic Health Record, Electronic Medical Record, EMR, Health Information Technology, HIT, Ophthalmology
