Sure, everyone says having an electronic
medical records (EMR) system is great. You've heard
the reasons a million times: an EMR system saves time,
improves patient care and monitoring, and finally brings
doctors' offices into the 21st century. But with dozens
of different software providers offering gigabytes and
megawhats and lord knows what else, how are you supposed
to know which one's right for you?
That's where Vancouver GP Dr Alan
Brookstone comes in. He's the founder of CanadianEMR,
a discussion website and blog that's been around for
about four years, but is this month expanding far beyond
its initial vision.
Set for launch at the end of September,
CanadianEMR will feature a totally revamped website.
Dr Brookstone gave NRM a preview of the site,
which is a sort of RateMDs meets Tripadvisor or Travelocity,
only for EMR systems.
"I have been involved with healthcare
IT for 15 years," says Dr Brookstone, "and I think this
is the right thing to do now, to shift input back to
the consumer."
COMPARE
AND RATE
CanadianEMR's comparison tool will allow you to select
individual systems to look at, but if you're not sure
which EMR programs you should look at, don't worry.
You can enter your parameters in a search engine
for instance: which systems are available where you
live? Are they approved by the province for funding?
Do they do the functions you need them to? and
the website will provide you with a list of EMR systems
to consider.
CanadianEMR will feature a unique
search function, says Dr Brookstone: the ability to
search for EMR systems by their appropriateness for
your medical specialty. In addition, Dr Brookstone plans
to invite EMR vendors to submit lists of Canadian physicians
who use their products to CanadianEMR, so the site can
publish the number of doctors - and the breakdown by
specialty - who use each EMR program.
One thing you won't find in the
comparison tool, however, is the price of the EMR. "We
think physicians should be making decisions based on
what their clinical needs are, and then go negotiate
with a vendor," says Dr Brookstone.
EMR users who visit the website
will be invited to fill out a questionnaire to rate
their own EMRs. Once enough ratings have been collected
to provide a semblance of statistical significance,
EMR ratings will be displayed in the comparison tool
in five categories: purchase experience, implementation
experience, support experience, usability and satisfaction
with the product. Given a sufficient number of ratings
by doctors, this piece of the site could be running
by the end of the year, says Dr Brookstone.
EMR
REVOLUTION
CanadianEMR's re-imagining has already been attracting
attention in the industry. An article on the new plans
appeared on page one of Canadian Healthcare Technology's
April issue, and Dr Brookstone has drummed up sponsorship
for the site from multinational tech giants Microsoft,
Telus and Intel.
The new website even has some academic
clout behind it. Dr Karim Keshavjee, a researcher with
the McMaster University-affiliated Centre for Evaluation
of Medicines and renowned EMR implementation expert,
helped develop the comparison tool.
The CanadianEMR blog will continue
to publish news and advice to help doctors improve their
EMR-software use. "It contains well over 800 postings,
all by physicians," says Dr Brookstone. "The core of
all this is quality information."
For more info visit www.canadianemr.ca
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