Benchmarking: Continuous process whereby an enterprise measures and compares all of its functions, systems, and practices against strong competitors, identifying quality gaps in the organization, and striving to achieve competitive advantage locally and globally.
Author: Carolyn Hartley
Word of the Day: Request for Proposal
Request for Proposal (RFP): A compilation of factors the buyer will consider before making a purchase. An RFP is typically sent to two or more potential responders and always contains a due date and contact person in the event those bidding on the proposal have additional questions.
Word of the Day: Evidence-Based Medicine
Evidence-Based Medicine: The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.
Word of the Day: Digital Signature
Digital Signature: An electronic signature, which serves as a unique identifier for an individual, much like a written signature, in which an algorithm authenticates the integrity of the signed data and the identity of the signatory.
Word of the Day: Health Level 7 (HL7)
Health Level 7 (HL7): One of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standards developing organizations (SDOs) operating in the health care arena. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular health care domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging, or insurance (claims processing) transactions. HL7’s domain is clinical and administrative data.
Word of the Day: Digital Signature
Digital Signature: An electronic signature, which serves as a unique identifier for an individual, much like a written signature, in which an algorithm authenticates the integrity of the signed data and the identity of the signatory.
Word of the Day: Security Incident
Security Incident: The attempted or successful unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, or destruction of information or interference with system operations in an information system.
Get Your Team Prepared for the EHR, Part Four
Technical Assessment Technology management and support helps determine the degree to which your clinic or practice can systematically and proactively manage technology assets. For example, you want to know the IT skill set of your staff, the current state of your organization’s technology infrastructure, your approach to technology planning, the existing technology management structures and technology project management capabilities. The technical assessment looks also at how well management and technology infrastructure can effectively support quality and operational goals. A technical assessment can save thousands of dollars, simply by identifying what you have and what you need. High-level items in the technical assessment or checklist include completion of a security risk…
Word of the Day: Site Visit
Site Visit: A scheduled three- to five-hour visit at a location determined by the vendor and host site that allows the practice purchasing the same software to see that software and interfaces in action. Most purchasers want to observe the new workflows, how well the interfaces work, and learn implementation tips.
Get Your Team Prepared for the EHR, Part Three
EHR Selection Preparedness: Data Management In the third of our readiness assessments or “environmental scans,” evaluate what kind of data you collect, how data are gathered, and where it is stored. Old paper storage habits (a file here, another there) can easily translate into a messy and over-loaded server as well. Start by knowing what data is collected? A typical list of health information in a medical record includes the following. Clinical data: » H & P’s » Medication lists » Encounter Notes » Procedure reports » Pathology reports » Other labs reports » Imaging results/reports » Treatment Plans » Diagnosis based documentation and treatment templates » External Care (notes,…