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Is there an electronic medical record system ready for the 21st century? Is there an affordable electronic medical record system? Can a good EMR help to reduce my business's medical liability expenses?

21st Century Specs You Need for Your EMR

This is a time of fast-paced business. To be blunt, if your current EMR does not keep up with 21st century needs, than your medical practice will experience something similar to driving down a road filled with potholes. No matter how fast you try to move, you will keep getting your practice knocked around until you finally have to pay more to repair it.

Why not take a road without potholes? An EMR that can keep up with the needs of your practice? You can, but you must do your homework. Check the 21st century EMR specs. What does your current EMR have?

This list, compiled by emrupdate.com, consists of 24 EMR needs and how many of 88 current EMR systems actually meet them.

Office schedule module- 32%
3rd party scheduling- 57%
Billing module- 24%
3rd party billing- 63%
Lab / HL7 interface- 57%
Prescriptions- 81%
Drug interactions- 49%
E&M code assistance- 45%
ASP- 27%
Internet access- 48%
Dial in access- 75%
Connection from separate locations- 77%
Wireless- 77%
Transcription compatible- 75%
Voice recognition- 69%
PDA compatible- 42%
Handwriting recognition- 43%
Digital imaging- 80%
Freeform sketches- 49%
Practice guidelines- 61%
Reminders- 72%
Reports- 76%
Tracking- 74%
PCWindows/Mac compatible- 9%

Which EMR Price is Right?

The average set up cost of these 88 EMR systems is around $870; however, the average annual maintenance cost is $2,254 per year. Does this sound strange to you too? Many practices are getting knocked around by the potholes that their EMR systems create. But they are still driving into them at full speed, and it is costly.

The average number of active EMR users as of 2002 is 2,225 users per EMR. That means that there is a large market for more effective electronic medical records systems. That also means that there are a lot of users that regularly run into these potholes as well, and they don*t want to help pay for the repairs.

EMR, the Right Prescription for Reducing Liability Costs

Perhaps the reason there are so many EMR users is that is safe. Customers want to reduce liability costs, as do medical practices. Pres. Bush toured the country after his reelection, from Downington, PA to Canton, OH to Collinsville, IL, talking about liability costs and defensive medicine.

Small practices spend an average of $150,000 per year in liability costs. When medical records are kept the same way college dorm rooms are kept, this makes sense. Most practices are smarter than that and are looking for an EMR that works. The right EMR may be the best defensive medicine.