December is the time of year for gift-giving. Many of us are running around with our lists and packing our shopping carts full of DVDs, video games, holiday sweaters, and virtually everything imaginable for our loved ones. How many of those items will go back to be returned or exchanged the day after Christmas? Have you ever searched for the perfect gift that will always be useful, and never need to be returned, exchanged, or exiled to the back of a closet? This holiday season, consider purchasing an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. EHRs will benefit you, your staff, and most importantly, your patients.

EHR systems benefit physicians in many ways. Before EHR, many of our physicians had to work late every night catching up on their documentation. Whether they were hand-writing charts, manually typing, or finishing up dictation, physicians can spend countless hours pushing papers. EHRs can eliminate paperwork and streamline your processes. You can use the extra time to focus on your patients, or leave the office early to spend with your family. Who wouldn’t want to spend more time with their loved ones around the holidays?

EHR systems can also help your office staff. Medical offices can be hectic places; your staff is probably bombarded with incoming phone calls and faxes, tracking down wayward charts, or helping patients that need to be checked in. EHR systems can reduce the fuss and give you a more relaxed work place. Digital faxing will eliminate constant inbound paper faxes, along with the need to manually file faxed paper work. Electronic charts can drastically reduce the time it takes to locate a patient’s files. Up to 60% of the charts your staff pulls daily could be from pharmacy or patient phone calls. EHR systems can cure your headaches and let your staff focus on your patients.

Finally, EHR systems can give the greatest gift to your patients, the gift of improved care. Electronic prescribing ensures that your prescriptions are filled accurately. There is no chance of a pharmacists misreading a script and potentially endangering your patients. Drug-drug and drug-allergy checks can prevent dangerous medication interactions from harming your patients. Formulary checks will ensure your patients get medications their insurance will cover. Order management can remind your patients to follow up on any labs or procedures you order for them. Patient portals and Personal Health Records allow your patient to become more involved in the healthcare process, giving them access to their health information.

If you are thinking about EHR, consider the reasons to purchase one this December. First, tax code 179 allows your practice to write off technology expenses up to $225,000 for systems purchased during 2009. Second, the HITECH Stimulus Act allocates federal money to reimburse physicians for purchasing and implementing a certified EHR. Third, purchasing in December will allow you to hit the ground running in January, so you, your staff, and your patients can start reaping the benefits of EHR. This holiday system, give the gift that keeps on giving. Give the gift of EHR.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides reimbursements to physicians who purchase and implement an Electronic Health Record (EHR). In order to participate in the program, physicians and EHR vendors must meet a set of requirements. You may have heard the term “meaningful use” in the news; it refers to a set of requirements for physicians and vendors. EHR vendors must provide certain functionality, and physicians must actually utilize the features in their practice.

Interoperability between different EHR systems is one of the main goals of meaningful use. Sharing patient data has many benefits, such as aiding clinical research, ensuring medical information is available as patients change providers, and adding to a knowledgebase which can help doctors with diagnostic and treatment issues. However, before EHR systems can share data, they must all speak the same language. Here is a brief look at some of the data standards proposed for inclusion in meaningful use:

SNOMED CT – Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms is a standardized medical vocabulary pertaining to most areas of clinical information. It offers a consistent way to access and store information across different specialties and practices. Meaningful use requires SNOMED for clinical problems and procedures.

LOINC – Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes – is the proposed meaningful use data standard used for identifying and recording laboratory observations and results.

RxNorm – is a standardized nomenclature for clinical drugs and delivery devices, and is the proposed standard for drug and medication allergies.

UCUM – The Unified Code for Units of Measure is a code system that includes all units of measure currently used in science, engineering, and business. It is designed to facilitate electronic communication and is proposed for meaningful use.

UNII – Unique Ingredient Identifier is an FDA standard designed to create a universal way to identify different ingredients found in drugs, biologics, food, and devices. Meaningful use will require UNII for tracking allergens.

Although these standards may seem arcane to physicians, they could determine whether or not a practice qualifies for the HITECH stimulus reimbursements. If you currently have an EHR, check with your vendor to see if they support these standards. If you have not yet purchased an EHR, be sure to ask the vendor if they support these standards. Remember, qualified professionals can receive $66,000 under Medicaid, and up to $44,000 under Medicare. The reimbursements start in 2011, so physicians should purchase an EHR soon to qualify in time.