To our friends who observe: Physicians First Messages wishes you a Hanukkah full of beauty and light. Happy Holidays!

It's not something we think about very often, but today on #NobelPrizeDay, we thought it would be a good time to remember Italian Guglielmo Marconi, winner of the Prize in 1909 as the inventor of the wireless telegraph. We've sure come a long way in how we send messages and information to each other!

Where would we as a society be today without the groundbreaking inventions and discoveries of the Nobel Prize winners? 

Holiday Season Is Here! Here Is A Quick Tip Of Safety.
I love December! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
 
I have fond memories of the holiday season, especially since it’s a time to not only catch up with family, but friends as well through dinners, parties, informal get-togethers and maybe even a vacation.
 
Physicians First Messages wants to encourage you to make the most of this holiday season, especially if you’re going to take part in one or more of the aforementioned functions over the next few weeks.
 
But we’d also like to remind you to please celebrate the holiday season responsibly … for the sake of your well-being and others. 

Specifically speaking,  we implore you to never drink and drive, no matter how careful you might think you are. For various reasons, conditions on the road are already borderline dangerous at times, so why make matters worse when you can hurt yourself, or more importantly, someone else.
 
Furthermore, is it worth the embarrassment of getting yourself in trouble with the law should you get pulled over and fail a sobriety test?
 
Come on, you know the answer to that!
 
Here’s a couple of cold, hard facts about the dangers of driving drunk, according to the website about.com:
1.   Motor vehicle wrecks are the leading cause of death in the U.S. for persons under 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Reports. And of those deaths, more than 40 percent are alcohol-related.
2. An estimated 40 percent of all persons in the U.S. will be involved in a traffic mishap blamed on alcohol at some point in their lives.
3. A driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 or greater is seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash than is a driver who has not consumed alcoholic beverages. And, that a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or greater is about 25 times more likely.

Basically, the more you drink, the more likely you are to have an accident, and a fatal one.
 
Bottom line is, play it smart this holiday season. If you’re going out and planning to drink, bring a designated driver, plan to take car service or get on a bus … whatever it takes.
 
Physicians First Messages would love to see everyone play it safe during the holidays and beyond. You owe it to yourself, your family, your friends and society in general.
 
Won’t you please do your part?

Sincerely,

John Calhoun
CEO, President @ Physicians First Messages, Inc.

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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