Yesterday, I was completing paperwork for a doctors visit at their office. This was for a referral to a specialist. They asked me to have my PCP fax over her most recent visit info and two most recent blood test results. This doctor and my PCP are part of the same hospital system…so I asked if they could view these things in their system…which they always have been able to do in the past.
Well…turns out the hospital in the system is staying with EPIC because they believe that it’s best for hospital use. The affiliated doctors are all switching EMR platforms, and they are not all going with the same system.
So…they gave me their fax number and my PCP faxes the info to them.
To the doctors on this forum…this seems like a step backwards. Wasn’t the implementation of EMR supposed to ease the sharing of records, given patient permission to access?
Except that there is no universal system for sharing those records. Instead providers pick their own systems.
It’s an example of a law that didn’t address the issues by having a system that works for all. So all we have is a mandate that causes more work for physicians, their office staff and the patients.
I know I’ve been very skeptical about the state of medicine in the United States. It’s very broken.
I don’t understand this and why it’s not solved. In 1996 I worked for a software company that literally made translation software (communication clients) for medical providers/insurance/etc. to send records regardless of system or format. How is it still an issue 28 years later?
That would be so annoying! All our providers are with the same hospital system right now and all use the same EMR system. It’s so much easier than it used to be to get/share test results and make appointments. I hope ours don’t reverse course.
Yes, that was the same with most of my providers as well. The receptionist told me that during this switch, they are leaving EPIC, and every office is choosing what they want to use. Not the same. I think that’s ridiculous and it is going backwards!
The only thing EMRs seem to be doing going forward is…saving file paper! But if they start faxing…that could change too. Or the offices will need to scan the paper copy into the patient files.
As a small medical office, we have a different EMR system because EPIC is way out of our price range. HIPPA requires health care information be sent via fax which we upload to our EMR without printing. Extra steps, extra work, a problem if we have an internet outage, not efficient. I’m no techie, but I can’t imagine there’s not a better, less antiquated way to share the info.
I am a private practice healthcare provider that is not affiliated with a major hospital. As such, I don’t use, or have access to, their EMR system. To communicate with other providers, we either fax or use a secure portal.
I completely understand offices that are not affiliated with any hospital system choosing what works best for them.
I’m talking about a one of three major health care systems in this state…where the hospitals will have one format and the doctors offices can choose any EMR system they want…and they are not all the same.
I understand EPIC is costly, but if you are a member of a large hospital system, wouldn’t you be included in their group rate…or something.
Well at least there is a secure portal option. I have not used a real fax machine in decades, but I still remember the dread of it. Listening for the squish,/swasssh phone connection sound etc.
Our fax machine is part of our copier. You “copy” the document and it just sends. On the other end it acts more like an email attachment. It goes to a folder where you can retrieve it.
I hope things iron out because I love having an electronic medical record. Great for easily seeing past test results, doses of injections, notes, appts, office addresses - everything!
I like EMR too. Right now I have seven different EMR accounts with various doctors. And that doesn’t include the one I saw on Tuesday…who suggested I wait until they get the kinks worked out.
Seven because I see doctors and therapists (PT or OT) in two health care systems, the dentists (two) each have their own, Quest Diagnostics so I can see my test results, and two doctors who are sole proprietors and use different systems.
I just signed out of my urologist’s portal, which I signed into after my PCP’s portal, QuestLab’s portal & a hospital portal. Trying to track my health information to discover trends is not easy! At least the doctors are able to view things in the hospital’s portal. But yeah, you’d think things could be more interconnected. I’m sure that there are underlying reasons why it’s not so easy, though.
Having so many different portals is a pain, but unless you are owned by a hospital or other health care corporation, EPIC is out of reach. From a google search: Small Practices (1-3 providers) : Estimated Cost: $100,000 - $300,000 initial setup, plus $50,000 - $150,000 annually.
@fretfulmother , yes. I was the pharmacy liaison managing the pharmacy module of our software system. Translating programs was what we always heard, too. But I left about a year before the switch to EPIC. How did they change?
Per good old AI: “EHR software accesses old records from a different system through a process called data migration, where the previous medical data is transferred and imported into the new EHR system, often using a dedicated interface or data exchange mechanism that allows the two systems to communicate and translate information between formats; this can involve manual data entry, automated data mapping, or a combination of both, depending on the complexity of the legacy system and the new EHR capabilities.”
It must be horribly cost prohibitive to use on a regular basis?
Do you know anything more about why it didn’t move forward on a regular basis?
Even when hospitals use the same EPIC system, it’s not necessarily the same. One of our local hospital systems merged with another. Both had EPIC, but the two systems had to be merged. D works in the hospital electronic systems space, and she recently worked with someone who had helped with the EPIC merger for the merger of the two hospital systems. Apparently, it was not easy! EPIC is tailored to the client, and different clients want different things.
Just my gut instinct, but it sounds to me like there is a private equity related change happening.
Regarding pharmacy records, we have access to most pharmacy records through our EMR. I think it might be a California law (AB 2789?) requiring electronic communication with pharmacies.
