EMR/u News for October 2007

This is a summary of the hot-topics discussed here at emrupdate.com during October 2007.

[YouTube:px6cGpnIfaM]

1. We sent Robert Gleeman on a mission of investigative reporting regarding the story http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10797.aspx Sermo.com's $26.7M Prescription Dr. Alberto Borges joined Sermo.com, and he reported back to us why a forum would need 30 million dollars. He not only signed up and reported back, he's already collected a share of the 30 million! He's already collected $60 dollars for his medical posts, and if he gets 15 people to sign up with Sermo.com, he gets $200.00! Al, thanks for the great investigative report. Sermo caught our interest because it is a community, like EMR Update, where doctors share ideas.
   
   
2. Always a popular and heated topic, CCHIT, the self-proclaimed EMR regulatory agency, has not let us down in this popular thread, http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/11005.aspx Since C-CHIT seems to be a hot topic... The article cited states the opinion that not should a doctor ONLY purchase an EMR that is CCHIT certified, but also, that it should be certified for the year 2007. That criteria includes only eight EMR software products at this time, and the question is asked, "What are you trying to do, create an EMR shortage? Needless to say, the discussion is a hot cauldron of streaming emotion to some, no big deal to others. It appears that if this decline represents the downward trend in regard for CCHIT by vendors themselves, we might actually see the organization die of "malnutrition". 566 reads, 24 replies.
   
   
3. Is your EMR Granular? http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10996.aspx is a continuation of an ongoing multi-year discussion on "granularity", it seems mostly between Dr. Quit and Dr. Matt Chase. Gleeman may think that granularity is something you get from making love on the beach, but actually, it relates to the fineness, or resolution of recorded data. Granular data can be found in the database and cited on a report, where a simple field of text cannot. If you need granularity, you better get it in the beginning. With 977 reads and 44 replies, this is obviously one hot issue, and one which many people find difficult to discuss objectively. The question comes up: Does granularity require more time, slowing down the system? Perhaps we need to have a race?
   
   
4. Vendors: did CCHIT Hurt or Help Your Sales? http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10959.aspx  another thread about CCHIT, seems to have brought out a sense of vendor bravado: no vendor appears to blame CCHIT for hurting their sales. Is this just bravado, or is CCHIT really being ignored by doctors buying EMR? The question in this thread is directed at vendors, and those vendor who did not certify claim it did not hurt their sales, while those who did certify cannot really prove it helped their sales. But the point was made that vendors better get used to some type of certification, because the market will not support 300 uncertified vendors. 616 people read the posts, with 27 replies so far.
   
   
5. MCMP (Medicare P4P) Update http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10889.aspx   started out as a very "doctorly" discussion on the latest requirements for "Pay for Performance" within the Medicare system, and soon evolved into a discussion of granularity, where our chief guru of all things granular, Dr. Matt Chase, posted some beautiful screenshots of Medtuity EMR, his company's product, which prompted the aforementioned thread Is your EMR Granular? This is because a doctor may very well need a high degree of granularity to make P4P work for them. This shows how all the threads are really inter-connected. So far, this pivotal thread has garnered 798 reads and 33 replies. We will probably see this thread revived many times over the years.
   
   
6. Speaking of thread revivals, Are you presently using an EMR in your practice? http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/1864.aspx is an old thread that was started back in Oct. of 2004! A few new members added their experiences, bringing up the point that no one can ever be certain of getting the last word in a forum, unless the topic has been locked. Some threads seem almost to be eternal. In fact, when I was new to EMR Update, I used to reply to old threads without really noticing the last post date. There is nothing wrong with that! As long as the thread is not locked, and most are not, you can always revive it. It just depends on your attention span, and for doctors, that seems to be years! This thread is a true "classic" with 3,397 reads and 31 replies, a "who's who" of the glorious past of our forum!
   
   
7. Certainly one of most recurring subjects, Is hosted solution the way to go for the small practice? http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10814.aspx once again covers the eternal question of which way is best for using an EMR system, to connect to the software through the Internet in what we call an ASP, application service provider, or the alternative, to run an in-office server. Perhaps a bit on the technical side, this discussion is essential for every doctor looking into purchasing -or renting-EMR software. It is the single biggest decision in EMR, to host or not to host, that is the question. Do you really want to take care of a server? If you are going to keep it on the floor and slosh it with cleaning fluid, you probably shouldn't. If you want to control your software and data with an iron fist, you probably should. This post has so far generated 973 reads with 31 replies, and we are bound to discuss this topic until the end of time.
   
   
8. Do Surgical Specialties Really Need An EMR? http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10631.aspx Another great topic from DrQuit, this thread covers the question of whether or not a surgeon needs an EMR, and to make a long story short, the answer appears to be a resounding YES. From medication information to wrong-site-surgery, surgeons say they have the same basic needs as all doctors, but I think there is a "next step" to this thread, which is, what are the best EMRs for surgeons and why? Even though a relatively new question in the forum, this thread has a solid readership of 1,014 reads and 29 replies, so I think we will be hearing more from and about surgeons' use of EMR.
   
   
9. And of course, we have to mention at least one "super-thread" and I think this one certainly qualifies: e-MDs Next Generation of Software http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/7172.aspx which is exactly what is says it is, an advanced discussion of an advanced EMR product concept, something that will be a major departure from every product that has come before it. In fact, it is not planned at this time to apply for CCHIT certification on this one! What more can we say: with 59,761 reads and 282 replies, this has to be one of the most popular threads of this or any other forum! The new product is expected to come out in Jan. of 2008, so it won't be long now!
   
   
10. Channeling NextGen accolades http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/10852.aspx is perhaps the rarest type of post we have seen, in that one vendor reports client compliments received on a competitive vendor's product. You don't see that happening very often, but it helps the industry to show that we are all on the same side. Like I said, this kind of gentlemanly behavior is not only rare, but also probably hard for many people to believe, as evidenced by this thread only getting 306 reads and 4 replies, but sometimes, you just have to go with quality over quantity! 

Thanks for catching up on all of the latest emrupdate.com news.

At the end of this presentation I provide some Top Tips for navigating around emrupdate.com highlighting the following tips:

• Sections! -- Yes we do have different forum sections. 
• Your Topics -- posts that you have authored across all forums, or a specific forum, by a selected date range.
• Hot and Active topics -- all Active Posts across all forums, or a specific forum, by a selected date range.
• Popular Tags -- tags can be added when you post a new post. If enough same-Tags exist they're displayed in Popular Tags for that active forum section. 
• YouTube -- how to add (Safe for Work) YouTube content
• Wikipedia -- how to add wikipedia callouts for terms and phrases within your post. 
• Site Wide Navigation Footer -- Checkout the footer for quick section navigation.
  

Nick 

Thank you so much for this great video presentation, Nick! Even though I helped write some of it, I was thrilled to see you depart from the "script" and put yourself into the reporter's role! I always enjoy working with you, Nick, but this was really the most fun of all. I have watched it four times already, and will watch it many more times. I hope we can do this every month without fail, and perhaps save a main menu item at the top of the page for these updates. This is the stuff of which history is compiled. Nice work!

 Nice job Nick!

This is a really cool feature of emru/f.

DrK:

 Nice job Nick!

This is a really cool feature of emru/f.

Here!  Here! 

I am but a fumbling trainee.

Friends* who seen this have been really cutting including suggestions that I try not to jump through a hedge before going on camera (comb my hair), and amazement that Americans could understand my [wikipedia:Black Country] accent. With friends like these who needs critics.

*Friends are the great levelers. Those who remind you that we're all on the same level,
no better and no different from anyone else. And Nick, it's your round next!

Nick Harrington:

I am but a fumbling trainee.

Friends* who seen this have been really cutting including suggestions that I try not to jump through a hedge before going on camera (comb my hair), and amazement that Americans could understand my Black Country accent. With friends like these who needs critics.

*Friends are the great levelers. Those who remind you that we're all on the same level,
no better and no different from anyone else. And Nick, it's your round next!

If I may quote Lewis Carroll (seems appropriate - one Brit on another)

Be what you would seem to be - or, if you'd like it put more simply - never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.

Ok- rolling up my sleeves here...  Some great quotes from none other than Winston Churchill, one of the best statesmen of all time:

• “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
• “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”
• “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won”
• "We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out"
• “I am easily satisfied with the very best.”

Now other quotes don't exactly go with this thread, but I'm on a roll here:

• “I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” [This one is a classic! When you get into an argument with someone, think of him as a pig.]
• “There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.” [Not in my posts- this refers to everyone ELSE's posts.]
• “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense” [CCHIT war cry??]
• “Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.
  Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.” [kind of reminds me the give-and-take between Bob and I. I love the way these Brits argue- we all need to learn from them!]

Cheers, and great job Nick!

Al

alborg:

• “Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.
  Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.”

One famous one from Churchill:

( a conversation between Winston Churchill and Lady Astor )
Lady Astor -- "Why Sir Churchill you are drunk!"
Churchill -- " Lady you are right and you are ugly, but I will at least be sober in the morning !"

Great new feature.  I like it.

I'd not hesitate to make it a Top 3 posts of the month and make the video short short !

Ideally there might be a "Click here for more" that lasts about 3 seconds after each clip where an interested user could go to the post that interests him/her.