ROI of EMRs not worth the cost ?

Interesting piece in the AMA news. Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA (BCBSMA) has determined that the ROI of an EMR is not worth the investment to doctors, and as a result, will not require physicians to purchase an EMR in order to participate in their P4P programs. This news is especially significant since it was BCBSMA that funded the very high profile $50M community based EMR project, Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative. One objective of this project was to understand the cost and quality implications of implementing EMRs, so BCBS's conclusion is based on solid data. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in justifying future EMR roll outs.

Performance Reporting on Lab data

A challenge for many provider and managed care organizations is reporting on lab data for P4P and quality initiatives. Lab data usually is available as HL7 2.x formatted data. Just the term "HL7" can be scary. Extracting (or parsing out) lab data from HL7 usually involves the use of expensive and complex tools, such as an HL7 interface engine. Aside from the cost, there is a steep learning curve for understanding and working with HL7.

If batch reporting is your main need, the CALINX Lab import tool may be for you. It converts HL7 v2.x lab data to a "flat-file". A flat file is essentially just a comma-delimited data file. Most "MS-Access" programmers are familiar with importing this type of data file into a database. Its certainly easier to work with lab data in this format. Check out the Calinx guide, which provides a very straight forward description of the Calinx lab data standard and provides an excellent primer on HL7 v2x lab data.