Nothing like enjoying the end of the weekend by going over some tweets from interesting people in the healthcare IT and EMR world.

The first one hit me the strongest since I think I sometimes get so wrapped up in the details of EMR and healthcare IT that I forget to stop and remember really why we’re doing all of this. Thanks Diane for reminding us.

What are the ends of medicine? To cure sometimes, relieve often, comfort always. Regardless of wealth or lack thereof.

April 3, 2011 8:22 am via ÜberSocialReplyRetweetFavorite

@DianeEMeier

Diane E. Meier

After John Chilmark from Chilmark Research skipped doing his taxes (thankfully mine are done) to read about ACO’s he provided this perspective:

Reviewing #ACO rules won out, quite amazed at level of focus on pt-centered care, MU a cakewalk in comparison

April 3, 2011 5:03 pm via FlipboardReplyRetweetFavorite

@john_chilmark

John Moore

John also offered this tweet to a Kaiser resource on ACO’s:

Best source of #ACO mat’l I’ve found so far http://bit.ly/i7eqs4

April 1, 2011 3:52 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@john_chilmark

John Moore

ACO’s are a hot topic and I have a guest post coming which will hopefully shed even more light on what’s happening in Washington around ACO’s and the new legislation.

@TheGr8Chaulupa (best twitter name) and @j_schilz reminds us of the crazy channels vendors are using to sell EHR software. Although, Costco’s only a couple years after Walmart and Sam’s Club EMR was offered (4-5 posts I did on it):

I saw that. How cool! RT @j_schilz: Via my Costco Newsletter: A #MU Certified #EHR Platform Offers Costco Members a fully hosted solution.

April 2, 2011 2:42 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@TheGr8Chalupa

Erica V. Olenski

Finally, my announcement of a new EMR and HIPAA EMR was an April Fool’s joke in case you didn’t realize it when you read it. Hopefully everyone that read it enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it (with Katherine Rourke’s help).

Today, CNET posted an article that talked about a Dell EMR. Yes, we’re talking about the Dell that makes computers (and sells everything else under the sun).

We’ve known for a while about Dell’s partnership with eCW and Walmart-Sam’s Club to sell EHR, but the thing that’s interesting about the CNET article is that it calls it “Dell’s EMR software.” I’m certain that Dell didn’t create it’s own EMR software package. I assume it has to just be eCW’s EMR right?

To add to the fun, I even found the page http://www.dell.com/emr which talks about Dell’s foray into the EMR world. However, on that page it links to the Sam’s Club/Walmart/eCW EHR partnership as well.

I have a feeling that the CNET article is just an extension of Dell’s partnership with eCW and Walmart. I’m sure eCW wants to market their EHR as much as possible and Dell is a respected brand on which to market your product.

UPDATE: The following is an excerpt from Healthcare IT News about the Dell EMR:

The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker on Thursday introduced an electronic medical record system for hospital-affiliated physician practices. The intent, said Dell executives, is to accelerate the sharing and meaningful use of digital patient information among hospitals and physician practices.

Dell executives say their EMR solution is sponsored by hospitals for their affiliated physicians and designed to make it affordable and practical for physician practices to transition from paper to electronic records.

So, it looks like it’s hospitals that will choose to partner with Dell in order to get doctors to buy an EMR from Dell? It still doesn’t say where Dell got this EMR. I think we can rule out them developing their own. So, the question remains: Is this an extension of the partnership with eCW or did Dell purchase another EMR software company?

In summary, a doctor will be buying an EMR sponsored by their hospital association who has an associate with Dell who has an association with some EMR software? Sounds like the perfect recipe for finger pointing.

Many of you may remember my rather detailed coverage of the impact of Walmart offering an EMR through Sam’s Club and in partnership with eClinicalWorks and Dell. For those that missed my comments, I wrote about the details of the Walmart EMR offering, and then A Doctor’s Perspective on Walmart EMR and eCW and Dell’s perspective on Walmart EMR.

I saw the Walmart EMR listing on the Sam’s Club website a while back, but didn’t have a chance to post it. It’s really interesting to see an EMR listed at Sam’s Club. I also find it interesting to see that they chose to market it as an EMR and not an EHR. I think this actually is a pretty smart move since I think most doctors still call it an electronic medical record or EMR. Those of us in the industry sometimes get caught up in the difference between EMR and EHR, but I think doctors don’t really care about the difference.

I still don’t think that this is much more than the opportunity for eCW and Dell to market their products. However, it is really interesting to see an attempt to commoditize the price of an EMR. As I look through the prices, I think that anyone that tries to buy this package through Sam’s Club is going to be hit by a bunch of hidden costs. Everything from the cost of travel for the eCW trainers to the upgraded hardware support from Dell. At the end of the day, I don’t think it will save doctors anything.

Turns out that the website states: “Availability of this offering is currently limited to Virginia, Illinois, and Georgia with anticipated nationwide coverage by the end of the year” I’d love to hear from someone who has taken the bait and purchased the Walmart EMR from Sam’s Club.