The ACP’s AmericanEHR Partners ranks Praxis EMR the No. 1 EHR in User Satisfaction and Overall Usability, among other categories.
Read full report: AmericanEHR Partners Survey – August 2019
Author Archives: Praxis EMR
Software Advice Ranks Praxis #1 in EHR Usability
Encino, Calif., August 24th, 2018 –Software Advice by Gartner, the world’s leading research and advisory company featuring online reviews of Electronic Heath Records, ranked Praxis EMR number one in usability. Praxis ranked first place after a review of 140 Electronic Health Records systems, earning the best overall score in Usability and the highest User Recommended score.
Software Advice’s FrontRunners uses real reviews from real software users to highlight the best software products to help small businesses make more informed decisions about what software is right for them. Praxis EMR placed higher than all other EHRs evaluated with the survey’s top score of 9.87.
“To be rated number one at Software Advice shows that Praxis’ focus on EHR usability has paid off,” said Doctor Richard Low, CEO of Praxis EMR. “This is further proof that the old paper paradigm is no longer applicable to modern medicine. In fact, templates contribute to physician burnout because they waste hours of valuable time and result in poor documentation. When physicians are spending twice as much time with their EHR as they do with patients, something is definitely wrong.”
Rather than relying on cumbersome templates that mimic the old paper chart, Praxis EMR uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology called Concept Processing that learns from each provider to document progressively faster and smarter. Praxis learns from each provider regardless of specialty, training, or experience.
“Thanks to EHR interoperability, more and more physicians will be allowed to use Praxis,” added Doctor Low.
Please download the full FrontRunners for Electronic Medical Records report here.
About Software Advice
Software Advice, a Gartner company, is the leading online service for businesses navigating the software selection process. Advisors provide free, personalized software recommendations, helping companies of all sizes find products that meet their business needs. Software Advice also features objective research by industry experts and reviews from validated users, saving buyers time and resources. For more information, visit softwareadvice.com
Required disclaimer: FrontRunners constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of nor constitute an endorsement by, Software Advice or its affiliates.
About Praxis EMR
Template-free Praxis EMR is a leading innovator of Electronic Medical Record software, serving thousands of physician-users across the U.S. The new Praxis EMR v7 is ONC-certified as a Complete EHR under the MACRA Quality Payment Program. For more information, please visit www.praxisemr.com
Contact: Oliver Hager at 818-592-2900:
Posted in Choosing the Right EMR, EMR/EHR, News and Studies
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A recent study by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that physicians spend twice as much time with their EHR as they spend in “direct clinical face-time” with their patients.* Independent physicians are embracing concierge medicine to improve profitability and offer more personalized care. Through the concierge model, physicians can spend more time with their patients, improve medical quality, and strengthen their bottom line. Praxis EMR enables the customized care that concierge medicine requires. Praxis has no cumbersome and rigid templates. Instead, Praxis uses artificial intelligence (AI) that learns how physicians practice and gets faster and smarter as they chart. Charting with Praxis is personalized and easy, allowing doctors to spend less time documenting and more time doing what they do best; caring for patients Physicians using Praxis rate it #1 when asked if their EHR allows them to “focus on patient care rather than on the computer”. Spend more time with your patients (and go home earlier). Praxis EMR is #1 when physicians were asked if they enjoy using their EHR. No other EHR comes close. *AMA – Medical Economics https://wire.ama-assn.org/life-career/clicks-and-keyboards-stealing-face-time-patients
Watch the new Praxis EMR demo or call us now at 800-985-6016 to learn how Praxis will improve your practice. Keeping on top of the electronic medical records (EMR) software market can be intimidating for small medical practices. Newer and better EMR systems seem to be launched every day, which can make the process of choosing the best EMR for your practice overwhelming. It’s important to remember that the best EMR system is the one that best suits your practice. If the system you choose doesn’t address your specific needs, you’re likely to cause frustration among physicians while spending money on features you don’t need. To determine the best choices among the ever-increasing EMR market, we analyzed real user reviews to find the three most highly rated systems based on overall ratings. You can view the top rated EMR options, view screenshots and discover what features set each solution apart. Suitable for small and midsize practices, Praxis EMR is a highly customizable EMR that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology called Concept Processing rather than templates. This technology learns the way each physician operates and adapts to their individual needs. Praxis EMR allows physicians to create, customize and share their reports and documents per their own personalized approach. Its Knowledge Exchanger feature allows physicians to share their medical knowledge with peers in the same practice, as well as other medical experts using the same software at another practice. Report generator and export billing feature in Praxis EMR The software is ONC-ATCB certified and offers features such as patient portal, narrative reports, e-prescribing and lab integration. The software is deployed in the cloud and offers a single per-month pricing plan that includes all features, implementation and full clinic training. THE KILLER FEATURE: Praxis EMR Agents work as smart AI messengers for physicians, communicating with patients on their behalf. They enable physicians to send reminders to their staff and do quick patient charting. In addition, Agents generate all the previous existing medical records and data that could be useful for new patients, thus allowing physicians to refer to and use existing information to treat patients. Suitable for solo physicians and small to midsize practices, InSync is a fully integrated solution that offers EMR as well as practice management and revenue cycle management capabilities. Its mobile app is available for Android and iOS devices, and it offers quick access and file-sharing functionality, letting physicians provide patient care anytime from any location. Schedule patient appointments through InSync EMR mobile app The software is certified for ONC-ATCB and meaningful use. It offers features such as patient portals, appointment management, charting, e-prescribing and voice recognition capabilities. InSync EMR offers both on-premise as well as cloud deployment. THE KILLER FEATURE: InSync EMR offers an automated scribe tool, InSyncScribe, which offers end-to-end dictation capture and transcription. The tool takes care of all documentation by entering the physician’s dictation directly into the EMR, which allows physicians to focus completely on the patient in the exam room. Suitable for small and midsize practices, ChARM EHR is a cloud-based solution that is accessible from any device with an internet connection, including mobile phones, iPads and other tablets, thus providing physicians greater mobility. Its SOAP templates feature allows physicians to quickly document patient visits and allows them to customize templates according to their specific requirements and specialties. Dashboard of ChARM EHR The software is certified for ONC-ATCB and meaningful use. It offers features such as clinical decision support, e-prescribing, document management, appointment management, patient portals and voice recognition capabilities. Its pricing is unique: It charges users per patient encounter instead of charging a fixed monthly rate. In addition, it offers a free edition of its EHR for up to 50 patient encounters per month. THE KILLER FEATURE: ChARM EMR offers a patient check-in kiosk that helps small medical practices streamline the patient check-in process. The information from these kiosks is instantly transferred to the patient chart. Source: 3 Top-Rated EMR Solutions-How Does Yours Compare?, Software Advice, by Rahul Kumar, July 9, 2018. When selecting an electronic healthcare record (EHR) system for your small practice, you might think a larger provider is the best choice. However, EHR software applications from large companies are often expensive and complex, and may not be well suited for a small practice. On the other hand, there are plenty of smaller, more affordable EHR systems that are not only comprehensive but are more effective for a small practice. Of course, the first step is to involve your entire staff in the decision-making process. The people who will actually be using this system should have a say in the software you ultimately use. What might look great on paper could actually grind workflows to a halt and diminish the quality of patient care. Prioritizing the patient and staff experience should be the central goal of the EHR selection process. We recommend a cloud-based option for smaller practices rather than a locally hosted system. By outsourcing hosting to the vendor, your practice won’t have to maintain an IT staff or pay high upfront costs for installation. And if something goes wrong with the system on the vendor’s end, it’s their responsibility to fix it. Interested in an electronic health records systems for a specialty medical practice? See our 2018 recommendations for the best EHR systems for specialists. Marshall Maglothin, principal statistician at General Dynamics Information Technology, said that simplicity of use is essential. Physicians need time with their patients, rather than filling out charts. Ease of use ensures better patient care and more attentiveness, rather than the tedious need to fill out charts and focus on the screen. “Our most expensive and valuable resource is our time,” said Maglothin, who has experience using EpicCare, MEDENT and athenahealth’s EHR systems. Systems that are difficult to use will not only slow down your service to patients, they could frustrate your employees, too. Dr. James Legan, a Montana-based internist who works at a multispecialty practice, told Business News Daily vendor support is also a key for small practices, and echoed the idea that ease of use is essential. He noted that minimizing downtime in case a problem should arise and making sure the system is intuitive are especially important to his practice. Cost is a key concern for small practices. Luckily, there are many vendors that focus on small practices and try to tailor their products to the needs of those providers. Our Recommendations for Small Practices Here are three small practice EHRs we recommend you consider. To learn more about how we chose these, see our methodology section below. Our Methodology To determine our best picks for electronic health records (EHR) systems, we consulted three surveys of physicians found on Medical Economics, Medscape and American EHR. We also looked at other software advice websites and considered user reviews to find leading systems. Ultimately, we ended up with a list of 38 candidates. We then interviewed physicians about what they are looking for in an EHR system and used their input to narrow down our pool based on three factors: ease of use, vendor/customer support and how an EHR might impact the quality of care. Using this criteria, we chose the following final candidates to review further: Epic, MEDENT, Practice Fusion, athenahealth, eClinical Works, Amazing Charts, e-MDs, SOAPware, AdvancedMD Inc., Modernizing Medicine, Care360, PraxisEMR and NueMD. We evaluated our finalists on the following criteria: To gather information and assess the quality of each company’s customer service, we called each company and identified ourselves as working for a small medical practice that would soon open. In order to estimate the cost of each system – which varies widely depending on what is included, what optional features are available, and the size of a practice – we consistently stated to sales representatives that we would opt for cloud hosting, integrated practice management, and our practice consisted of five providers. We based our price estimates on pricing we were given for those parameters. We also conducted several interviews with physicians who have firsthand experience with the EHR systems on our final list. We considered their qualitative responses in our final recommendations as well. Following our research, we selected several systems to recommend for small practices and specialists. Because we were unable to use the systems in a clinical setting – and because every physician’s wants and needs are unique – we refrained from picking a single “best” system and instead recommended several systems that scored positively in each of our criteria and received favorable physician reviews. Vendor List Here is a comprehensive list of EHR vendors. This alphabetical list also includes the recommendations mentioned above. Acrendo Software, Inc. – Acrendo’s EHR system is available in client-server or cloud-based options, is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II, and is ICD-10 ready. Acrendo also offers integrated practice management and revenue-cycle management software. Product demonstrations are available at Acrendo.com. Advanced Data Systems – MedicsDocAssistant is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and is ICD-10 ready. The system includes options for integrated practice management, billing and revenue cycle management. Live demonstrations are available through Adsc.com. AdvancedMD, Inc. – The AdvancedEHR is integrated with scheduling and billing software, and includes a cloud-based option. AdvancedMD also offers an iOS mobile application. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. More information can be found at Advancedmd.com. Allscripts – Allscripts Professional EHR is designed for small and mid-sized practices and offers strong interoperability with labs and pharmacies, Meaningful Use Stage II certification, and ICD-10 preparedness. Request product demonstrations at Allscripts.com. Amazing Charts – Amazing Charts is designed by a doctor for usability and affordability. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified, ICD-10 ready and offers integrated practice management. Free trial and demonstration videos are available at Amazingcharts.com. athenahealth – athenahealth’s cloud-based system offers integrated practice management and billing software and Meaningful Use Stage II certification as well as ICD-10 preparedness. Request a live demonstration or view a product demonstration video at athenahealth.com Cerner – Cerner’s EHR system is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and is ICD-10 ready. It offers integrated practice management and billing systems, and aims to maximize engagement between physicians and patients. More information is available at Cerner.com CompuGroup Medical, Inc. – CompuGroup’s EHR includes an integrated practice management system and is available in a web-based version. Video demonstrations are available at CGM.com eClinical Works – eClinical Works’ v10 EHR includes electronic referrals, hospital interoperability and data reporting on health care records. Other features and live demonstrations are available at eClinicalWorks.com eMDs – Both Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready, eMDs focuses on usability and capturing clinical and billing data. eMDs also offers cloud-based hosting. Free trial available at e-MDs.com Epic – EpicCare EHR offers an integrated practice management system, Meaningful Use Stage II certification and ICD-10 preparedness. Epic touts its interoperability across the continuum of care as a hallmark of the system. More information available at Epic.com Evident – The Thrive EHR application is built for rural communities, hospitals and practices. The system offers integrated practice management, billing and financial management software. Find out more about Thrive at CPSI General Electric – GE Centricity EHR is “an electronic medical record designed to interface with practice management systems in larger physician practices.” Customizable to individual workflows, the system promises seamless interoperability, Meaningful Use Stage II certification and is ICD-10 ready. Webinars and more information available at GEHealthcare.com Greenway – Greenway Health’s Prime Suite is ICD-10 ready and Meaningful Use Stage II certified. It offers an integrated EHR/practice management system that it calls usable and flexible. More information and video demonstrations are available at GreenwayHealth.com Healthfusion – The MediTouch EHR system is cloud-based EHR and practice management software focused on hospitals and billing services. Both ICD-10 Ready and MU Stage II certified, MediTouch EHR offers a customizable experience. Find out more at Healthfusion.com Healthland – Healthland’s Ambulatory EHR offers a Windows-based, customizable user interface. It includes referral management software, an integrated task manager, and eprescribing. More information is available at Healthland.com Kareo – Kareo is a free, cloud-based EHR that is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. It offers secure messaging, an integrated patient portal and a comprehensive dashboard. More information and video demonstrations are available at Kareo.com LeonardoMD – A web-based EHR with an integrated billing and practice management system, LeonardoMD offers customizable workflows, tutorials, and one-on-one implementation consultants. Request a live demonstration at LeonardoMD.com McKesson – McKesson’s EHR hosts an integrated practice management system, is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and comes ICD-10 ready. Both client-server and cloud-based, McKesson aims to tailor their system to the size of the practice using it. Video demonstrations available at McKesson.com MEDENT – MEDENT’s EHR offers mobile access, billing and practice management software. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready, and can be configured for client-server or cloud hosting. Find out more at MEDENT.com MEDHOST – The EDIS EHR system is designed to eliminate drop-down menus and unnecessary screens for simplicity and usability. MEDHOST boasts strong interoperability with hospital systems, labs and pharmacies. EDIS is able to operate through an iPad application. Schedule a demonstration at MEDHOST.com Meditech – Meditech’s EHR system focuses on the ability to share data and interoperability. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. Meditech offers a web-based option and is mobile friendly. More information is available at Meditech.com Modernizing Medicine – Built “from the ground up” by a doctor, Modernizing Medicine is an iPad native EHR tailored for the specific needs of various specialists. Its Electronic Medical Assistant solution is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and comes ICD-10 ready. Live demonstrations are available for scheduling at ModMed.com NextGen – NextGen’s Ambulatory EHR is focused on ease of use, integration with practice management and billing systems, and interoperability. It is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and is ICD-10 ready. Video demonstrations are available at NextGen.com NueMD – Nuesoft’s NueMD EHR system supports more than 100 specialties, which makes it one of the most versatile solutions we reviewed. It is ICD-10 ready, highly interoperable and Meaningful Use II certified. Find out more at NueMD.com Practice Fusion – Practice Fusion is a free, cloud-based EHR that organizes every feature into one local dashboard. It operates across all devices, is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. Video demonstration and downloads are available at PracticeFusion.com Praxis – PraxisEMR is one of our best picks for small practices. The system utilizes AI and machine-learning algorithms to save physicians time in predictable situations. It also eschews traditional templates in favor of cause/effect triggers known as agents. Find out more at PraxisEMR.com Quest Diagnostics – The Care360 EHR includes eprescribing, secure messaging and multisystem interoperability. It is certified for Meaningful Use Stage II and ICD-10 ready as well as available on mobile platforms. Request a demonstration at QuestDiagnostics.com ReLiMed – ReLiMed EHR received high satisfaction in user reviews, customers praised its excellent interface and interoperability as well as its selection of specialties. Users also reported excellent support and technical training from the company. Find out more at ReLiMed.com Sevocity – At $359 after startup costs, Sevocity is an affordable EHR solution that promises a customized experience, specialty-specific features and a patient portal. Sevocity is Meaningful Use Stage II certified. Find out more information at Sevocity.com SOAPware – SOAPware aims for usability and an intuitive interface. The system includes an integrated practice management and billing option as well as cloud hosting. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. More information is available at SOAPware.com WEBeDoctor, Inc. – WEBeDoctor’s EHR prides itself on adaptability to individual workflows. It offers an integrated practice management and billing system as well as connectivity between your devices through the cloud. It is Meaningful Use Stage II certified and ICD-10 ready. More information is available at WEBeDoctor.com World VistA – The official EHR of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA-CPRS is available for demonstration download and trial at worldvista.org WRS Health – This extremely interoperable EHR features several of the most used interface engines, meaning you can all but guarantee it will communicate with other members of the health care ecosystem. Starting at $299 per user per month, WRS Health is a reasonably affordable EHR system with highly customizable workflows and templates. Find out more at WRSHealth.com. If you’d like your company to be added to this list and possibly considered as a best pick for our next round of reviews, please email your request to: b2bconsiderrequest@purch.com. The largest electronic health record (EHR) companies are primarily focused on large enterprise systems, like hospitals, but there are still plenty of other EHR vendors that design their products specifically for smaller practices as well. Finding which one is right for you and your staff means focusing on things like cost and ease of use. We recommend a cloud-based option for smaller practices rather than a locally hosted system. By outsourcing hosting to the vendor, your practice won’t have to maintain an IT staff or pay high up front costs for installation. And if something goes wrong with the system on the vendor’s end, it’s their responsibility to fix it. Interested in an electronic health records systems for a specialty medical practice? See our 2018 recommendations for the best EHR systems for specialists. Source: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8579-ehr-systems-for-small-practices.html A recent study by the American Medical Association (AMA) shows that physicians spend twice as much time with their EHR as they spend in “direct clinical face-time” with their patients.* Even more troubling: “For every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly 2 additional hours is spent on EHR and desk work within the clinic day. Outside office hours, physicians spend another 1 to 2 hours of personal time each night doing additional computer and other clerical work..” The study also found widespread career dissatisfaction among physicians with over 50% reporting “EHR burnout”. It’s no secret that physicians waste valuable time each day due to their EHR; 92% describe their EHR as “clunky” and “difficult to use” and 96% report that their practice will never return to pre-EHR productivity levels if they continue with their current EHR.** According to author, speaker, and consultant on the subject of physician burnout, Dike Drummond, MD, physician burnout affects an estimated one in three physicians at any given time* “Improving the work life of physicians to help them avoid burnout is such an important goal that researchers are now calling it the “fourth aim” of health care, next to improving population health, enhancing the patient experience, and reducing costs.” Drummond says, “To avoid burnout, you have to address the stressors in your practice.” EHRs are a major source of practice stress. *Study by the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the AMA, 2016. Available at: https://annals.org/aim/article/2546704/allocation-physician-time-ambulatory-practice-time-motion-study-4-specialties ***Physician Burnout: Its Origin, Symptoms, and Five Main Causes, Dike Drummond, MD, Fam Pract Manag. 2015 Sep-Oct;22(5):42-47. Eight Ways to Lower Practice Stress and Get Home Sooner. Dike Drummond, MD, Fam Pract Manag. 2015 Nov-Dec;22(6):13-18. With the majority of US doctors now having used an Electronic Medical Record (EMR/EHR), physician dissatisfaction with EHRs has reached alarming levels. Major surveys point to a national crisis in EHR usability. Physicians complain EHRs are difficult in practice and waste valuable time that could be better spent with patients. Most EHRs, say doctors, have poor user interfaces based on template technology that slow charting down and hurt overall medical quality. American physicians are angry. According to surveys conducted by the AMA and Medical Economics, doctor’s dissatisfaction is linked to poor usability stemming from template based EHRs. 87% of physicians who use EHR systems claim usability issues as their primary complaint, and 92% of practices describe their current EHR as “clunky” and/or “difficult to use.” A full 96% agree that their practice will never again achieve pre-EHR productivity levels if they continue with their current EHR. A survey by American College of Physicians (ACP) found that every respondent reported losing some time each day because of EHR use. Physicians blame template EHRs for losses in productivity, bedside manner, and medical quality. The 2009 High-tech Act earmarked 3.9 billing dollars for Healthcare IT modernization. Rewards in the form of financial incentives from Medicare have been the driving force behind the Meaningful Use (MU) certification, intended to encourage nationwide Electronic Medical Records adoption. “Enhanced oversight, combined with potential cost efficiencies and quality-of-care improvements, have led to the federal government’s carrot-and-stick approach to EHR adoption,” says Medical Economics. Over the past 5 years alone, hundreds of vendors have entered the market in a massive rush to sell EHR systems to physicians. The majority of these companies are actually medical billing companies with no experience in clinical charting. However, adding a template EMR along with billing services puts these companies in-line for the federal incentive payments designed for EMR adoption. Medical billing and insurance companies alike have moved rapidly to market template EHRs. In general, template technology is easy to develop from a technical standpoint yet difficult to utilize in practice. Also contributing to the poor usability of template systems has been the rush to design and certify such systems for Meaningful Use. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) set stringent deadlines for EMR vendors certify for MU Stage 2 by January 1st of this year. This led most vendors to hurry EHR development opting for expediency over quality. Product certification was seen as more important than product functionality. As a result, Meaningful Use Stage 2 has been an unmitigated failure. The attestation numbers speak for themselves. With 147 certified EMR vendors certified, only 50 physicians in the entire United States were able to successfully attest for Stage 2 by May, 2014. Finally, when only 2,700 had attested by August, 2014, CMS relented and allowed the attestation timeframe to be pushed back. The dismal MU Stage 2 attestation figures reveal important lessons for the EHR industry: First, it may be easy for an template EMR to pass Meaningful Use certification. However, developing an EHR that helps physicians practice better medicine while achieving MU attestation is a different matter. EHR systems that were rushed to meet arbitrary Meaningful Use timelines have proved unusable. Unrealistic deadlines have led to awkward, difficult-to-use technology that slows down the work of practicing physicians. Healthcare technology is too important to be rushed. Likewise, the practice of medicine is too serious to be manipulated with carrots and sticks. Certifying an EHR that helps (and not hurts) doctors cannot be accomplished under arbitrary Meaningful Use guidelines. Physicians are now bearing the burden of a poorly planned federal certification program. Second, template technology itself, although easy and inexpensive to develop, has proven problematic in clinical settings. Most physicians site systemic issues in the rigid template user-interface. “Template-based notes degrade the quality of clinical documentation”, reports the Huffington Post. Doctors “described template-based notes as a significant threat to both clinical quality and professional satisfaction. Such notes were described as complicating the task of retrieving useful clinical information. This problem was reported by physicians in all specialties and practice models included in the study.” Physicians also argue that the fundamental premise of the Meaningful Use program is flawed. Like any technology, the best way to push implementation is to create a user-friendly product that helps speed efficiency. Template EHRs take physician attention away from patients, thereby reducing productivity,” reports, Medical Economics. What’s worse is that templates force the user to follow a preset format as they see patients. The problem is that no two patients are the same and no two physicians are alike. As a result, template EHRs slow physicians down, degrade medical quality and in general do not perform well in real life clinical settings. As losses in physician productivity and medical quality mount, serious legal implications of extended template EHR usage are surfacing as well. Template EHRs open physicians up to increased malpractice threats while their use in clinical settings is being labeled a “patient safety-risk”. In a recent medical malpractice lawsuit in New York, the court succinctly placed the liability issue in the case on the use of templates in the physician’s EHR. The doctor indicated that she had no option regarding the use of a template: ‘you have to choose a template,’ and by that choice, a screen pops up and provides the doctor with other options or choices to make’. The template limited the entry of information and differential diagnosis choices and the results were catastrophic. As 2017 is underway, most US physicians are either struggling to adapt their rigid template EHR systems to function in real-world clinical settings or 2) replacing their template EHRs with systems not based on inflexible template technology such as more flexible and adaptable “template-free” EHRs. Systems free of structured templates are proving to be a solution to slow and poor quality charting. Praxis EMR, an award winning system with artificial intelligence (AI), is a popular example of one such template-free EHR. Instead of forcing a physician to follow preset templates, Praxis EMR learn from its user. This allows a physician to practice faster and higher quality medicine than is possible with template technology. Physician’s report time savings of 2-3 hours a day, improved documentation and medical quality, and lower workplace stress levels after using Praxis EMR. To see how Praxis EMR works, please visit: www.praxisemr.com/demo Over the past few years medicine has witnessed Healthcare IT companies re-label their Electronic Medical Records (EMR) as Electronic Health Records (EHR), and then market them to practicing physicians as ‘new and improved’. Countless EMR companies have followed suit, and now it seems just about everyone is calling their EMR product an EHR, with the ‘H’ for Health implying something bigger and better than the original Electronic Medical Record. At first glance the letter change makes sense. The argument follows that ‘Electronic Health Record’ is more inclusive than ‘Electronic Medical Record’, benefiting not only the doctor, but also patients, insurance companies, not to mention the government. The word ‘medical’ is more limited, implying that EMR is only a tool for doctors and nurses. Indeed, proponents of EHR argue that the tool should be for all stakeholders: patients, insurance companies, government, and all other interested parties. From this perspective, the physician becomes just one more ‘player’ in the ‘ecosystem’ of stakeholders. But, what about the physicians? Not too long ago, doctors were strictly forbidden from advertising, and any connection with an insurance company was seen as a gross ethical violation. Today, insurance companies and third party payers often advertise on the physician’s behalf and take the dividends to the bank while hiring the very physicians who created the restrictions. “Our insurance keeps you healthier”, is the mantra. Of course, as physicians we know how silly these claims often are. When all is said and done, society still looks to physicians for its healthcare needs. Nobody honestly believes that one insurance company makes people healthier than another, or that insurance companies, rather than physicians, keep people healthy. Underneath the name change from EMR to EHR there is a subtle implication that this new tool will also serve to “keep doctors in line”, pressuring them to practice ‘better’ and more cost-effective medicine, as dictated by the other EHR stakeholders. Just ask yourself why insurance companies have invested so heavily in Pay For Performance (P4P) schemes. Could it be because they are looking out for the physician’s best interests and they want to help “good doctors” make a few extra bucks? We think not. Most of those behind the rhetoric are not physicians, and of the few that are doctors, the majority have never practiced medicine full time and therefore don’t fully appreciate the issues at hand. Their rhetoric continues however, and unfortunately most of us do not have the time to expose their misguided propaganda. Here lies our great predicament. By not having enough time to get involved in these ‘side issues’, doctors first permitted a huge bureaucracy to grow around them, eating up precious healthcare dollars while limiting their ability to provide the best care possible. The bureaucracy has amassed an enormous amount of power, and now seeks to exert control. The Third Party Payer bureaucracy has now turned its attention to EHR as a means to do its bidding by remote control. They want to control not only how much money a physician earns, but also how he or she will work. There is something very serious indeed behind this single letter change. Folks often make the false assumption that the computer is an objective, neutral, thinking-machine. Indeed, it is this point of view that has helped persuade most of our colleagues to buy into the idea of EHR, as opposed to the more focused Electronic Medical Record. One might ask, ‘what difference might it make whether it is an EMR or an EHR? The machine will still make the right decisions for us all, if we program it to do so’. This viewpoint is very naïve as it misses the whole concept of what software is about. The computer is NOT a traditional machine, and yet it is not ‘human’ either. The computer stands on a fascinating and fuzzy boundary between the mind and the machine. And it will make a huge difference to a practitioner whether he or she uses an Electronic Medical Record or an Electronic Health Record. What if a computer is not neutral, but rather behaves according to how it is programmed? Should the program function for the doctor (Electronic Medical Record), or for “society” whatever that means (Electronic Healthcare Record). This depends on who will use it, and who it is that needs the information generated. It is here where the subtle change in terminology is crucial. All computer programs take sides, and a good program should take the side of its user. If your position is that of the controller of healthcare in a financial institution, then it is markedly different than if your side is that of a practicing physician in a small practice, or a hired physician in a larger healthcare institution, or even a patient. Have you thought of why many insurance companies want to allow you to use their EHR for free that most likely would have cost thousands of dollars? What kind of a ‘Trojan Horse’ will doctors be getting? In reality, we are constantly “interfacing”. Doctors interface with patients, with the hospital administrators, with office managers, with the insurance companies and other third-party payers, with the Medical Board. The good news is that this is what computers are meant to do, on your behalf, and in some ways faster and more effectively. Instant communication to the right people at the right time. Thus, it seems to us that there is a gigantic difference between an Electronic Medical Record and an Electronic Health Record, just as there is a big difference between an Electronic Medical Record and a Personal Health Record (PHR- managed by patients themselves). Insurance companies have powerful software, including Pay for Performance systems that are developed by experts for the insurance companies to lower their medical care costs as much as possible. They SHOULD have this software. We are not against that. This is all well and good, but as a practitioner of medicine, you deserve to have your software tailored to make sure you benefit as much as possible. Of course, because the vast majority of doctors put patients first, then their patients would also benefit, as a result. We believe the answer lies in the development of excellent interfaces between Electronic Medical Records (biased toward providers), Medical Billing applications (biased towards providers’ finances), Patient Health Records (biased toward patients), Insurance and government software (biased toward business institutions and government) and medical research software (biased toward investigators who also need your data). Interfaces are not only possible but also very positive. Indeed, our entire open society is based on interfacing and compromise. All software should interface with other interested parties’ software in real time, each benefiting its respective client base. You cannot be all things to all people, and neither can software. This is what the voices behind EHR fail to understand. We strongly believe that far from killing it off, the advent of EHR, when fully understood, will make the Electronic Medical Record stronger than ever. The EMR should be biased on the side of its purchaser, which ought to be the medical practitioner. The EMR is meant to be a liberator to free the physician’s time, make his chores easier, and improve the income and the quality of service a physician renders. Moreover, the EMR should protect a physician not only from making mistakes but also from not practicing the best possible medicine. In the P4P arena, this should should be a no-brainer; everyone should score 100%, since the P4P should be there by the doctors side at the point of care, and not simply examining cases after the fact. A good EMR would insure this. An EHR may not care as much, since this may imply higher medical expense and less of a bottom line to the third party payers and the patients and employers. However, each one of those patients wants the best possible care when it is their own health is on the line, even the stingiest insurance company CEO… These are tall orders to be sure, but the alternative is unacceptable; imagine if your software also served insurance companies and the government at your expense and that of your patient. There is always room for compromise in order to benefit the medical community as a whole, but these compromises ought to take place at the negotiating table between doctors, medical society and the other interested parties – and NEVER in the programming of a software application. Each software developer should listen closely to its client base, and interface with other products representing other interests wherever possible. EHRs, made by folks that listen to everyone, will not work in best interests of the medical providers, or for the ultimate best interests of their patients. Trying to be everything to everyone, as the EHR proposes, is a sure recipe for disaster. Please ask yourself the following question: Am I a Medical Doctor or a Healthcare Worker? The answer to this question should make your preference for the term EMR or EHR obvious. AAFP Physicians Give Praxis EMR Highest Rating when Switching EHRs; Black Book Ranks Praxis Number One Overall in Solo and 2-5 Physician Practices Praxis EMR, an award-winning developer of electronic medical records (EMR/EHR) software received the highest satisfaction ratings in two major physician-user surveys released independently by the AmericanAcademy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and Black BookMarket Research in 2015. The AmericanAcademy of Family Physicians ranked Praxis EMR the #1 EHR by physicians in its survey “Physicians Who have Switched EHRs.” Praxis EMR ranked first place in physician satisfaction when doctors were asked to rate their new system after having switched EHRs. Praxis EMR outranked 73 other systems, with the largest percentage of physicians who strongly agreed, “I am happy with our new EHR system.” The EHR Switch Survey studied physicians who have changed EHR systems since 2010 and evaluated their overall satisfaction after changing. The survey by Robert L. Edsall and Kenneth G. Adler, MD, of Family Practice Management (FPM) sought to understand the key factors driving practices to change EHRs. The report outlines key challenges physicians encounter when changing EHRs, and examines whether changing EHRs leads to improved EHR performance and satisfaction. “While our sample is too small to suggest winners and losers in the EHR marketplace, we do see some suggestive numbers,” explain Edsall and Adler. “EpicCare Ambulatory and Praxis had the most net gains in customers among our respondents.” However, when user satisfaction was compared between the two EHRs, the difference in satisfaction was compelling. Praxis eclipsed Epic and outranked all other EHR systems. Black Book Market Research also named Praxis EMR the #1 EHR in overall user satisfaction for 2015. Black Book is recognized as an unbiased source for polling, market research and client experience. Praxis earned the highest ratings of the year in overall user satisfaction among Solo Physicians and in 2-5 Physician Practices across all specialties of medicine, as well ranking #1 for the entire Internal Medicine specialty. “Praxis is the only EMR not based on templates, and this is why physicians prefer it to other EMRs” said Doctor Richard Low, CEO of Praxis EMR. “Most EHRs turn doctors into data-entry clerks, forcing them to use rigid templates in order to document complex medical situations. Medicine is an art and no two doctors practice the same way. This is why templates do not work in medicine,” said Dr. Low. The difference between Praxis EMR and template-based EHRs is its ability to adapt to each physician user’s unique methodology. Rather than using pre-loaded templates, Praxis uses artificial intelligence technology that learns from each user to chart progressively faster and more effectively. “As medical students, physicians studied medicine, not data-entry,” said John Davis, M.D., owner of Grayson Valley Family Medicine, P.C., and Praxis EMR client. “Template EHRs force us to check boxes and fill in the blanks, and that’s demeaning.” added Dr. Davis. “With Praxis, I’ve found an EMR that helps me provide better care to my patients, meeting my own standard of care.” “An EHR should be about helping physicians practice better medicine their own way” emphasizes Doctor Low. “At Praxis, we believe that maintaining usability and freedom while charting is essential to improving medical quality, lowering costs, and improving physicians’ income.” About Praxis EMR Award-winning Praxis EMR is the leading innovator of Electronic Medical Records, serving thousands of physician-users. Instead of relying on templates, Praxis utilizes intelligent technology that self-learns while users documents in free text. Praxis’ focus on clinical usability consistently earns it top ratings in physician user satisfaction surveys. View the Praxis demo: www.praxisemr.com. Many EMR companies, knowing that you are shopping for an unfamiliar and complex product, want to impress you with gadgetry: they show you iPads, high-end computers, and handhelds. Others seek to win you over with fancy anatomical animations and other graphics within their EMRs. While these features may look tempting, you are being manipulated. All good EMRs should be able to show you any picture you wish and run on any device you choose. In other words, many of the features you see highlighted in an EMR’s marketing materials are not nearly as unique as they seem. If you see a particular device that catches your eye, write down the name and ask other EMR vendors whether their software is also compatible with that device: odds are it will be. Also observe how the EMR displays its graphics and animations, and cross-check these features with other vendors. The true benefits of an EMR are not seen in these superficial details. If an EMR focuses primarily on gadgetry and cosmetics rather than substantive features of clinical importance, consider it a red flag. These eye-catching elements will not deceive those who have used EMRs before, but they can be distracting and misleading to first-time buyers. Exactly how an EMR handles your daily repetitive tasks is the most important question in your EMR search. Don’t let vendors gloss over this critical issue. If the EMR you choose increases your charting time or compromises your documentation or workflow in some way, you will wish you had never purchased it. Much more than just an electronic toy that everyone seems to have, an EMR can be a major boost to your career and a huge time saver. With the correct programming, some EMRs can reduce your charting to minutes a day and become one of the biggest allies in your practice. Don’t be distracted by gadgetry.
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**AMA – Mayo Clinic https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/887940
*** Charts taken from AAFP EHR User Satisfaction Survey, 2012, 2015.
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