Electronic Health Record (EHR) contains the health information of a patient. The information includes the patient’s past medical history, medications, problems, laboratory data, radiology reports, vital signs, and progress notes. The record is in digital format and can be shared by different healthcare settings. The EHR support services are provided by the Regional Extension Centers (RECs). The list of Health Care Information System Vendors that offer EHR products is given below.
Others include McKesson Provider Technologies, Siemens Medical Solutions, Epic Systems Corporation, Eclipsys Corporation, Healthcare Management Systems, Meditech, among others. In this work, I have made a comparison of the functions and features of five of the above Health Care Information System products.
Enterprise EHR
Enterprise EHR includes tools, technologies, and methods used to obtain, manage, preserve, store, and deliver content within an enterprise. The enterprise EHR has numerous advantages which include user efficiency i.e. it is user efficient as it facilitates patients care and the associated processes. Vast amounts of information needed by the clinicians in order to offer care to patients is always available here. It also supports and promotes patients’ safety and quality of care. The information in the enterprise EHR is properly organized and can easily be accessed during the care process. At the same time, it provides fast and efficient access of information. The risks of losing the prospect of e-discovery are mitigated by appropriate application of the enterprise product.
The features of Enterprise EHR includes: Document version control, where all the health records are automatically assigned version numbers; document assembly, where the documents can automatically be retrieved in the desired order; document security; and document check in and check out services. Its functionality includes record capture, record preservation format, record retention calculation, record disposition control, and record deletion.
The enterprise EHR, unlike the other products, has applications which are not limited to patient health information. It has component tools and technologies which makes it applicable to policies and procedures, businesses, and workflow processes. It also provides toolkit that allows the organization to develop the necessary information system based on its unique needs.
As defined by the IOM, the enterprise EHR performs the following functions: patient support, provision of health information and data, order entry support, decision support, electronic communication and connectivity, and results management.
NextGen Ambulatory EHR
This product securely avails the valuable information at any time of need. It therefore enhances fast, accurate and convenient care for patients. The robust functionality in NextGen EHR allows easy transmission of prescriptions to a pharmacy.
NextGen Ambulatory EHR offers unique features which distincts it from other products. The main features include:
Work flows and pre-built clinical templates for over twenty six specialties – this ensures that there is a complete and accurate documentation stored in the right format.
The disease management template – It captures the discrete data at the specific points of care. This helps in meeting the clinical reporting guidelines stipulated for the pay-for-performance programs. The NextGen's chronic disease templates offer quick and easy documentation.
The e-prescribing automatically checks the prescriptions against patient’s medication.
The NextGen product suite enables consistency in real time clinical and administrative workflow. However, this product does not provide a toolkit that calls for customization.
In relation to IOM, the NextGen Ambulatory EHR performs the following functions: provision of health information, decision support, electronic communication and connectivity, and order entry support.
Pulse Complete EHR
This is a suit of applications which allows efficient and intuitive documentation of patient encounter by the physicians. Its key features are:
The Pulse EHR allows for multiple documentation methods. This gives the physicians a wide range of modes of documentation where they can choose only the ones they are most efficient and familiar with.
It has a Pulse’s module based system. This makes it the most flexible EHR. It allows for the purchase and implementation of modules of the EHR suite as need be, thus enhancing meaningful use.
The Pulse Complete HER performs the following functions in accordance with the IOM: provision of health information and data, electronic communication and connectivity, and order entry support, decision support, patient support, and results management.
CareTracker
The CareTracker enterprise (CT-E) system provides scheduling of patient appointments, which includes radiology, Surgical Services, Pain Management, among others.
The system automates patient scheduling process and this maximizes the hospital resources and at the same time improves the patient’s throughput. It contains the scheduling tools which accommodates block scheduling and combination of linked procedures which enables the scheduling of multiple appointments across the departments.
It also provides tools which are necessary for the spreading of the scheduling process. This package meets the various needs of the users.
In summary, the main features and benefits of this product are: Scalable number of departments and modalities; both multi-facility and multi-department patient scheduling; verification of insurance is done online; tracking of patient; customized schedules, user defined data fields when capturing data; inventory control; data validation; Scheduling of complex surgery; and reporting of detailed statistics.
Its main functions are: financial management; management of report; scheduling; checking of conflicts; management of inventory; scheduling based on rules; management of staff; management of case; and management of patient.
PrimeSuite
This product automates and streamlines the allergy treatment from the initial encounter. It does this through injection record tracking. It also integrates data through claim processing and billing.
In summary, the PrimeSuite performs the following functions: Lot administration and reporting; development of serum and auto filling of the final serum sheet; tracking of the allergens testing; and the automated patient tracking.
The data provided by this product includes: discrete data which is used for reporting and analysis; reactions, comments and orders; education availability of the patient; site for the injection and the amount of dose; and other details that are vial.
Reference
Allscripts Solutions. http://www.allscripts.com/en/solutions/
Carrollton, GA (PRWEB) PrimeSuite EHR Software Solution, October 31, 2010 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/10/prweb4710534.htm
NextGen Health Care. http://www.nextgen.com/
QCI solutions, 2008. http://cqisolutions.com/
The 2011 Pulse Complete EHR. http://www.pulseinc.com/products
