EMR FAQs

2. What is an EMR?

In a nutshell, EMR refers to paperless files. The legal industry has employed this technology for several decades, because maintaining paper documents for all case histories can be costly and inefficient. An initiative to do the same in the medical industry caught on in the early 1990s.

As EMR technology has improved and become more affordable, physician practices have begun to see the value of paperless medical charts and other resources. Today, a small to moderate-size physician practices are looking to EMR's to expand their practice by streamlining workflow, reducing labor-intensive tasks, such as copying, duplicating and filing, and improving patient care. As EMR's continue to be refined, smaller practices might take advantage of a technology that was once only available to larger practices and hospitals.

Sometimes the best technologies are slow to catch on, and electronic medical records (EMRs) or paperless computer files are one such example. While the deluge of information surrounding EMRs makes it difficult for clients or prospective clients to become EMR experts, we can still introduce to our customers the concept of paperless electronic files and help them evaluate their need for this technology and show them how Global Medical Transcription can play a part.

4. What are the benefits / advantages of Electronic Medical Records?

1. Improve safety, quality of patient care and decrease medical errors. EMRs typically provide doctors with adverse drug interaction alerts, generic medication alternatives and dosage recommendations. Some EMRs are capable of recommending certain treatments based on the patient's diagnosis. EMR's generally generate health maintenance reminders like when patients are due for their physical, colonoscopy etc.
2. Complete records can be accessed concurrently anytime and sometimes from any location with a PC, Blackberry or PDA phone with proper authorization. This is managed through a security administration module that allows administrators to set specified user permissions.
3. Better chart backup. Manual charts can be lost, catch fire, stolen etc. EMRs are usually backed up to a remote server location or duplicated on tapes that are stored somewhere else limiting the risk of a full loss of patients' records.
4. Better reporting. As a computerized documentation that exists in data format, it allows management to better produce reports and manipulate data for drug recalls, patient marketing, research and statistics.
5. Better coordinated care. This can be achieved by interfacing the EMR system with hospital clinical applications, resulting in a more comprehensive care assessment and a reduction in critical errors.
6. Easier compliance with State, other government and HIPAA compliancy regulations. Through the use of audit logs, system administrators are able to monitor who accessed which record and what changes they made to the record.

6. What is a web based EMR?

The EMR software application runs on a remote server that is accessible over the internet via a browser like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Firefox. In this mode, the customer does not own the software; it's like a leasing agreement whereby you pay monthly fee for the right to use the software. It is often referred to as SaaS (Software as a Service).

The advantages of a web based EMR is typically no initial investment, no server or server maintenance responsibility for the client and a very low initial investment (no capital investment). The EMR can be accessed from anywhere, it requires no installation, patching or upgrading by the client.

The disadvantages of web based EMR Software are limited customization, limited interfaces with other applications like billing and require high speed connectivity by the client.

8. What EMR Grants are available out there?

Their are federal programs for "subsidizing" an EMR purchase like the subsidies outlined in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the Stimulus Bill recently signed by congress. Healthcare providers that qualify as "meaningful users" of EHR systems will be eligible to receive $40,000 - $60,000 in incentive payments paid out over five years in the form of Medicare and Medicaid premiums.

Healthcare Pay-for-Performance (P4P) programs offer performance-based bonuses to physicians that can use an EMR to improve quality of care. To participate, physicians need to track and measure care, monitor efficiency of delivering quality care at the best cost and document the patients' experiences using post-exam surveys.

10. What is a HIPAA compliant software?

To maintain the utmost Security and Protection of your medical records and to comply with HIPAA requirements, GMT has taken the following steps:

1. File Encryption. All audio and text files are protected by 128 bit encryption. All GMT application access occur using this secure, HTTPS protocol (SSL - secure socket layer).
2. Passwords and Usernames. To access any data in the GMT system a valid username and password is required. Voice and text files are routed through our centralized servers to ensure privacy, integrity, and reliability.
3. Audit Trail. Each time a file is accessed the event is recorded (IP address, user id, date, time, elapsed time of event).
4. Non-Disclosure Agreements. All GMT employees and contractors sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
5. Limited Access Capabilities. GMT Transcriptionists can only view or save documents on our secure servers.