In a post done in 2009 that’s still getting comments, Diane G. offered some interesting commentary that I think is fair warning for those purchasing an EHR (names removed since it could apply to a lot of EHR vendors):

We use Software A for our EMR, but Company A provided the equipment and installation quote for Software A and I can tell you, you’ll want to look at EVERY line they bill to your company. We have been billed for equipment that we never received and interfacing that was never launched. I have spent hours explaining to them what services they have billed us but didn’t provide. I am extremely grateful that we did not purchase their EMR and/or Practice Management product!!

Definitely a good warning for all purchases, but applies to EMR software as well. A number of EHR software companies have really simplified the way they bill and so this is less of a problem with those EHR vendors. However, many EHR vendors still try to pilfer doctors for the extras which can often add up to more than the core product. It’s ugly and unfortunate since it leaves a bad taste in doctors mouths.

Along these same lines is making sure your EHR contract is sound. There’s a whole section on EHR contracts in my EHR Selection e-Book that is worth looking at if you’re going through the EHR process.

I think it’s quite easy to predict that 3-5 years from now, one of the top topics on this blog and in the EHR world as a whole is going to be around EHR data extraction or if you prefer EMR data conversion. I’ve previously predicted that by the end of the EHR stimulus money we’re be lucky to achieve 50% EHR adoption. So, you’d think that in 3-5 years we’d still be talking about EHR selection and implementation. Certainly, that will still be a topic of discussion. Not to mention, which EHR vendor they should go to for their second EHR. However, I am certain that 3-5 years from now we’re going to see a mass of doctors switching EHR vendors.

As part of my EHR blog week challenge (if you’re a blogger, you should participate too), today I’m going to highlight one of the foremost EHR professional and technical services company’s blog, Galen Healthcare Solutions which focuses on EHR data conversion.

I know I’ve written about EMR data conversion a number of times before. Although, I haven’t written about it much for quite a while. I guess meaningful use and the EHR incentive money has kind of dominated the conversation. However, there’s much that can and should be said about EHR data conversion.

The first thing anyone should know about EHR data conversion is that it’s not easy. In fact, it’s quite frankly an incredibly painful experience in almost every regard. Just take a look at this blog post summary of the EHR Clinical data conversion process by Justin Campbell of Galen Healthcare Solutions. He summarizes the steps as follows:
* Data Extraction
* Data Analysis: Cross-Referencing
* Design: Data Filtering, Matching (Provider, Patient Item), and Exceptions/Errors
* Testing
* Go-Live

I believe the most challenging item on this list is likely the Data Extraction. Sure, the data analysis and design are a pain to do and do well. However, the data extraction is often the most difficult part of an EHR data conversion, because you’re often working with an unfriendly EHR vendor that has lost you as a customer. Unfortunately, many EHR vendors haven’t heeded my call for EHR data independence, and so it can be a miserable experience trying to get the information and access you need to do an EHR data conversion. In some cases the EHR vendors will try and hold that data hostage.

The key for those selecting an EHR software is to be sure that the process for exporting your data from the EHR is part of your EHR contract. If it’s not, then add it to your contract. If they won’t add it to your contract, there are 300+ EHR vendors to choose from. Certainly it’s a part of the EHR contract that you hope to never have to use. Don’t take that risk.

Justin Campbell has also posted a few different data conversion success stories on the Galen Healthcare Solutions blog. Obviously, Galen has a lot of experience with the Allscripts Professional EHR software and so you’ll note this bias throughout the blog. However, the experience of the conversion is very interesting.

Here’s a paragraph from one of their data conversion success stories: Azalea Orthopedics.

To facilitate this conversion, flat-file extracts were obtained from MedManager for dictionaries, demographics and appointments. However, instead of using these extracts to import into Allscripts PM, an alternative approach was taken in which real-time appointment and demographic interfaces were deployed from the client’s existing Allscripts Enterprise EHR to the new Allscripts PM environment. This offered the flexibility of having the PM data populate real-time. Interfaces were also required from Allscripts PM to Allscripts Enterprise EHR. Thus as part of the go-live, existing reg/sched interfaces from MedManager to Allscripts Enterprise EHR needed to be deployed.

I have to admit that this kind of complexity in healthcare is what drives so many doctors nuts. I’m sure there were some functional reasons that they had to do all these interfaces between the systems. What I don’t understand is why the interfaces need to stay in place after the conversion is complete (at least if I understand it correctly). Did Galen really have to implement an interface between Allscripts PM and Allscripts Enterprise EHR? I’m sure there’s some long history for why this has to happen, but it’s such a terrible design. Certainly this isn’t Galen’s fault, but Allscripts. Interfaces are really great….when they work. When they don’t work, they drive a clinic, the IT person and even the EHR vendor absolutely nuts. I’ll be interested to learn more from Galen about why they did what they did.

I did find their report on the number of transactions processed fascinating:
Demographics: 156,900 processed in 491 minutes (8.18 hours)
Appointments; 313,280 processed in 1570 minutes (26.17 hours)

That’s a lot of data being processed. Can you imagine having to run the 26 hour data conversion twice if you messed it up the first time? Yep, data conversion is a tricky thing and can be very time consuming if you’re not really thorough in the process.

Imagine how much data will be collected 5 years from now with all these EHR implementations happening. Plus, the above data was only appointments and demographics. It doesn’t even include the physicians charting and other clinical data.

This may turn out to be the smartest or dumbest idea that I’ve ever tried here on EMR and HIPAA. Although, I’ve never been one afraid to try something and look stupid. I think that’s one of my greatest strengths. I’m willing to try something crazy even if it doesn’t work. Of course, many times it turns into something really great. Hopefully this turns out to be the later.

I’ve been seeing so many people doing video and so many people interested in video. So, I decided I’d give it a try. I’m attacking EMR video in 2 different ways. First, I’ve launched a new EHR, EMR and Healthcare IT videos website. We’ve already posted 32 different EMR and EHR videos to the site and it’s seeing some great traffic. Of course, if you know of other videos you think we should post to the site, please do let us know. We’ll keep on posting the best EMR, EHR and Healthcare IT videos that we find.

The second part of this plan is that I’m planning to make a number of EMR related videos myself. In my true boot-strapper style they won’t be huge productions. Instead, they’ll focus on the content (like I do on this blog). At first, I’m planning to do the videos in a question and answer style. I’ve already got a number of questions from Twitter and a previous post I did, but feel free to post other questions you’d like me to answer in the comments of this post.

Plus, I figured I might as well go all in and do the video live. That’s right, I’ll be broadcasting the video I create live to my EMR and HIPAA uStream channel. I’ll be starting the video tomorrow (5/24/11) at about 2 PM PST (5 PM EST). So, feel free to connect to the live streaming video of me answering questions. Plus, when you connect you can ask questions of me live. Hopefully a few of you show up so that I’m not just talking to myself. Of course, if you don’t then I’ll try to still post the video after the event as well.

In fact, I tested out the system today and recorded this video. Excuse the t-shirt and baseball cap. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can upgrade the wardrobe a little bit.

What do you think of this idea? Is it insane? Do you like it? Are you looking forward to the free advice and consulting?

I found a couple interesting tweets from EMR answers. Some interesting advice for those interested in EMR and EHR.

#EMR #EHR Vendors- busy w/ #MU R&D. Demo specific to #physician spec. & work flow. Watch for clicks, alert fatigue and “One size fits all”

May 15, 2011 8:16 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@EMRAnswers

Linda Lia Stotsky

Some good advice and scary thought that all the EMR and EHR vendors’ R&D is going to meaningful use.

#EMR #EHR 101.Vendor Customization.”Fit” system to #physician, specialty, #RN w/flow. Invest time on front end b4 losing $$ after “Go Live”

May 15, 2011 8:10 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@EMRAnswers

Linda Lia Stotsky

Definitely better to invest up front. Sadly, our society seems to be all about the immediate result and not the long term investment.

Much ink has been spilled discussing why physicians are resistant to adopting EMRs.

The thing is, it’s really no mystery.  Researchers have arrived at what seem like sensible answers to the question, including a) problems changing their work habits, b) fear of the unknown and c) struggles with kludgy interfaces.

So, why not take these problems on directly? While we can’t get inside clinicians’ heads and tell them how to think, we can address their issues concretely.

If the anecdotes I hear are accurate, many are pushed into EMR use and forced to do all the adapting, rather than getting the help they need.

So how can we help?

Obviously, physicians and other clinical staffers need access to accessible, intelligent training — ideally, both Web-based and live — as well as easy-to-use documentation that’s written in very simple language.

But that’s not all. While many institutions breeze by this step, IT departments (or consultants) should do everything they can to customize the EMR experience for individual clinicians. (If your EMR is too rigid to allow for this, that’s another story, but let’s pray you have one with some flexibility built in.)

It’s also important to pinpoint what other frustrations clinicians may have. For example, some doctors who type poorly are immensely frustrated by using EMRs, something keyboard-savvy techs might never consider.  A good old-fashioned typing course might work wonders in those cases.

In the rush to deal with the complex technical issues involved in EMR integration, it’s easy to blow by the needs of individual users.  It’s even easier to throw some fragmentary training at clinicians and assume they have a bad attitude if it doesn’t “take.”

The truth is, though, that nobody can afford to be short-sighted about getting users connected to EMRs.  Let’s hope everyone bears this in mind as the main wave of rollouts begins.

Today I have a special shirt made just for HIMSS, thanks to the great people at Enterprise Software Deployment.

If you see me at HIMSS, check out my shirt. It has the top 10 real reasons I’m at HIMSS listed on the back of the shirt. My favorite is #4 Booth babes. I’ll post the full top 10 later tonight.

Also, be sure to check out Enterprise Software Deployment at HIMSS if you need a great EMR consultant or if you’re looking for a position doing EMR consulting. You can find them at Booth #2777.

Here’s their HIMSS exhibitor description:
At ESD, our goal is to ensure successful implementation of a new EHR system or upgrade from start to finish in healthcare organizations around the globe. Our services include Clinical Transformation, Legacy System Support, Training, Supplemental Staff Augmentations, Clinical and System Transformation, as well as education and training in all aspects of Cerner®, Siemens®, Epic®, Eclipsys®, MEDITECH, and McKesson systems.

Thanks for ESD for sponsoring such a cool shirt for me.

A reader of EMR and HIPAA asked the following interesting question:

I was wondering if you had or heard of anyone coming up with a way to measure if the EHR implementation was successful. Other than “its in!”. Im trying to help some clients define this but cant seem to find anyone who has done this. Im thinking something like:
Were all staff trained prior to go live?
Were project goals achieved? etc

Here’s my response that I hope you’ll find useful as well:
It’s an interesting question. I’d suggest you download my free EMR Selection e-Book.

In the book, I cover the various areas where a practice can get benefit from implementing an EMR. I suggest that each practice evaluate which of the benefits they are looking to achieve with their EMR implementation. Then, it works out nicely that it’s the criteria you can use for selecting an EMR and also for measuring how successful the EMR implementation has been.

That’s how I’d approach measuring the success or failure of an EMR implementation. Of course, you could also add in any unforeseen events (good and bad) that happened during the EMR implementation too.

The real key is to establish a set of goals or expectations for what you want to get out of the EMR implementation so you have a way to evaluate the EMR software and the EMR implementation. Then, it’s good to actually look at this criteria after the implementation to see if you fell short of those goals and what you could do to actually achieve them.

Implementing an EMR is a living, breathing thing. The best EMR implementations are evolving and improving as you continue to roll out more features of an EMR or better utilize the existing features. Not to mention all the new features that an EMR vendor will roll out as they upgrade their software.

I’ve been thinking about the EMR consulting business model for a long time (check out my first post on EMR consulting back on October 27, 2006). My personal career path has taken me a different direction. I do some occasional consulting for people, but it’s not really my core business. Unfortunately, I don’t scale very well.

With that said, I think there’s definitely a business model for a company that does EMR consulting. In fact, today I learned that one of my advertisers and also an EMR consulting company, Enterprise Software Deployment, was ranked #561 out of the 5000 fastest growing companies in America (see press release).

That’s right. I guess EMR consulting is a good enough business that they can use an EMR consulting business to become one of the fast growing American companies. Plus, I agree with the press release that this next year we’re likely to see EMR consulting grow even more.

While I ABHOR EMR sales people who like to call themselves EMR consultants, I think there’s definitely a place in the EMR industry for qualified EMR consultants. In fact, check out this series of EMR consultant posts where I talk about the possible advantages of using an EMR consultant:
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Selection Process
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – EMR Training
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Clinical Process Mapping
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Comprehensive Technology Support
Benefits of Using an EMR/EHR Consultant – Improved Clinical Buy-in
NOTE: I wrote all these in early 2008. I don’t think too much has changed since then. Although, there are likely more EMR consultant opportunities.

A recent comment from Jim Hook from The Fox Group had a nice checklist of items that doctors and practice managers could start doing to make sure that their EMR implementation is ready to meet the meaningful use standards. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but I thought was a good list for those providers wanting to being their preparation for showing meaningful use and obtaining the EMR stimulus money.

Everyone should keep in mind that there are no systems “Certified” at this point.

Here are some things to check as you get ready to claim your incentives for EHR Meaningful Use under the HITECH Act. This information is based on (EPs) qualifying for the Medicare incentives.

1) Start talking to your vendor about their plans to submit their EHR software for certification as “Certified EHR Technology”. The system does not have to be certified as of January 1, but it does need to be certified by the end of the 90-day period you are using to attest to your EHR Meaningful Use.

2) Keep in mind that if you are using a stand-alone EMR product with an existing legacy practice management (PM) system, the system needs to be Certified EHR Technology also. This is because some of the functions of a certified system, such as recording patient demographics electronically, are most likely functions of your PM system, not the EMR product. So talk to that vendor, too.

3) Verify that any eligible provider attesting to meeting EHR Meaningful Use objectives provides 10% or more of his/her Medicare services in an outpatient setting (not inpatient or in a hospital ED). CMS will look at the percent of services rendered in an outpatient setting for the fiscal year ending 09/30/2010 to determine the IP/OP percentages. Your EHR healthcare consultant must be qualified to do the analytical and reporting work in preparing the self-attestation report, based on the current fiscal year and the individual EHR Meaningful Use objectives in place, starting January 2011.

4) Make sure all eligible providers you are planning to certify for EHR Meaningful Use have an NPI number and are enrolled in PECOS.

5) For EPs in group practices, confirm the tax Id number – group or personal – of each provider for payment of the incentive amount. Payments can be made to either number.

6) CMS will be establishing an Internet-based enrollment process for EPs planning to apply for incentive payments. Keep checking this site for the Registration process, and enroll when it is available.

7) As soon as you start the clock on your 90-day period, make sure you are meeting all the EHR Meaningful Use objectives applicable to your practice, and, for objectives with numerical thresholds, that you are attaining the levels specified. If your EHR system is Certified EHR Technology, it should be capable of supporting all Stage 1 Meaningful Use objectives.

8) Monitor the CMS website on EHR Incentive Programs to determine the format of the attestation for 2011. And keep in mind that accuracy is paramount; attesting to EHR Meaningful Use is making a claim to a Federal program. And the penalties for false claims are significant!

Attestations can be completed as early as April, 2011, and CMS has stated payments will be made in May. For EPs seeking incentive payments under the Medicaid / Medical program, visit the CMS website for further information.

When I wrote my previous post about EMR consultant challenges, I thought it might be valuable to create a list of possible ways to do EMR consulting. This list is just off the top of my head, so please feel free to add other EMR consulting opportunities that exist out there in the comments:

EMR Selection – Consult on selecting the right EMR.
EMR Implementation – Consult on the best way to implement the EMR. Map EMR workflows to their existing paper workflows.
Meaningful Use – Consult a practice on how they can achieve meaningful use and get the EMR stimulus money.
EMR Vendors – Consult EMR vendors on their software, their marketing, etc.
IT Consulting – Consult practices on the right IT infrastructure to support an EMR in their practice.
EMR Review – Review an already implemented EMR and suggest ways that the implementation could be improved.
EMR Training – Train end users on a particular EMR. This often is similar to or included in EMR implementation consulting.
EMR Certification – Consult EMR vendors on preparing for and getting EHR certified (some are even still looking for help with CCHIT Certification).

Ok, what other types of EMR consulting are out there?