Today, more than 80% of doctors use one form of electronic healthcare record or another.  Of the 17% hold outs, more and more are starting to buy into the belief that they will eventually have to switch over to some electronic system.  But did you know that there are over 1,100 different electronic medical record, or EMR, systems?  While attending a breakout session at TIPAAA, I was able to listen to doctors first hand, complain about the numerous EMRs and the issues that each comes with each one.  

What was your experience like when you were trying to decide on an EMR system? Some come fully loaded like a luxury vehicle with all the bells & whistles, others promise “seamless mergers” between your current system and their system, only for you to find yourself in a merger nightmare.  Well, with over 80% of doctors struggling to get their EMRs configured correctly, when will these software vendors get their act together and fix the issues?

As a medical call center, Physicians First Messages, Inc listens to their doctors’ concerns, not only regarding call center issues but all issues that have an effect on their practice.   We are just one part of serving their patients.  We feel that it benefits each party when we stay on top of the major issues of the health field.

Physician practices and hospital systems alike can breathe a small sigh of relief.  Through all of the craziness, many EMR software vendors are ready to stop the madness.  “EHR vendors have shown an increased willingness to play ball with one another; even better, have bought into the standardized frameworks such as Carequality, making interoperability between future offerings a guarantee instead of an expensive hassle.” 

EMRs can be of great benefit once they are able to communicate and perform the way you need them to and seems like that will happen sooner than later.  “Vendors are showing a more share-friendly outlook”.  That means an improvement for the providers and the patients.    That is the shocking outcome we all want! 

Mia Marinaccio
General Operations Manager