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Really.  No joke.

I am going to be answering questions about EMR Live on Kevin, MD at 10:30 PM EST tonight.  I will put the Java thingy on this blog, but his invitation to me to guest-host his question/answer session gives me cause to compel you to go to his blog to do the damage…I mean, ask the questions, although I will put a widget at the bottom of this post as well.

Have I mentioned that I like the word “widget”?

There are the reasons I was asked to answer questions regarding EMR, as opposed to llamas, shampoo, or Wankel rotary engines.  Here are my qualifications:

• We have been on an EMR since 1996
• I was president of the MedicaLogic (now GE) EMR user group in 1999, and served on the board for 4 years.
• Our practice won the Davies Award for Primary Care given out by HIMSS for the best use of EMR in an ambulatory setting.
• I served for two years on the HIMSS ambulatory EMR steering committee.
• I was keynote speaker for the PACT (physicians adopting computer technology) conferences put on by HIMSS in 2003-2005.  A side note is that it was at a NYC PACT conference that I met Dmitriy Kruglyac who got me into blogging.
• I have also given EMR talks for AHQA and worked with them for the DOQIT program implementation by the QIO’s.
• I have regularly written for Physicians’ Practice Pearls on the subject of EMR adoption.
• I have recently done interviews with the AMA regarding e-prescribing and Reach MD about EMR adoption.
• We have used our EMR to become NCQA certified in diabetes and have received a significant amount of P4P bonuses because of this.
• Using our EMR, our office has allowed us to not only survive the currently hostile climate toward primary care, but actually thrive.  Our profits have increased over the past 5 years, and we have not done anything but outpatient visits (we do very few office procedures).
• I use the word “widget” without blushing.

My main focus is the adoption of health IT in the small private practice – particularly in primary care.  I am very frustrated when I hear people say things like “EMR is not possible in a small office” or “EMR isn’t worth it.”  We did it, and we did it without the help of others.  Our office is disproof of the word “impossible.”

Has it been easy?  Not at all.  But we have implemented without much help – we learned things the hard way.  Hopefully our experience will give others a template on how to not only adopt EMR, but to use it as a tool to improve quality of both care and service.

See you tonight!