The Case for Regulating EMRs

By Tim Gee

Papers reporting serious adverse events (Nebeker, 2005; Yong, 2005) relating to the use of commercial healthcare IT (HIT) applications received significant publicity in 2005. Many of the reports at that time focused on the configuration of decision support systems used in computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems.

Standards for Medical Device Interoperability and Integration

By Bikram Day, MS

At the point-of-care, medical devices provide clinicians with real-time status of the patient’s condition, including the patient’s vital signs. This data is vital for treatment and can be a critical aspect of patient safety since it provides near real-time surveillance of patient status to locations beyond the patient’s bedside.

Interoperability and Actionable Intelligence: Future Requirements, Current Possibilities

By Kevin Ketzel and David Swenson, RPh

Government requirements for “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs) have focused national attention on the need to integrate and computerize a patient’s medical records to improve performance and support patient care processes.

Critical Values Reporting: Making Day-to-Day Performance Count

By Susan M. Bowen, RN, CPHQ, CLNC

In 2006, the Shepherd Center, a 132-bed spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, was having trouble meeting The Joint Commission’s (TJC) requirements for reporting critical values: measuring, assessing, and, if appropriate, taking action to improve the timeliness of reporting, as well as the timeliness of receipt by the responsible licensed caregiver of critical tests, results, and values.

Open Source Health IT in the Psychiatric Care Environment

By Sigurd Ackerman, MD; Lisa Benton, LCSW; Bonnie Briggs, RN, PMP

Silver Hill Hospital of New Canaan, Connecticut, recently joined a select group of psychiatric hospitals in the United States that have implemented an electronic health record (EHR) system. Founded in 1931, Silver Hill Hospital is a 129-bed not-for-profit psychiatric hospital that provides inpatient and residential transitional living programs for adolescents and adults.