Legal, Practical Concerns

Doctors should pay attention to the details of the contracts they enter into with EHR software providers, Szabo said.
For one thing, they should determine to what extent the company selling the software will aid in implementing it, he said. Also, they should enter into some sort of agreement concerning IT support.
Physicians must also make sure their EHR systems comply with state and federal privacy rules, Szabo said.
Magee said his records are protected by a firewall and a series of passwords, a system that makes it impossible for outside persons to view the records but also allows him access to them when he is away from his office.
Many of the privacy concerns are based on “fear more than reality,” Magee said. “There is far more harm done in medicine today by health care providers lacking information than by patients’ privacy being violated.” 

Barry said that the council is looking into whether addition statutory protections will be necessary to protect patient privacy.
Another concern is that the many programs on the market are not interoperable – which means they don’t allow one office’s electronic records system to communicate and connect seamlessly with other offices’ and hospitals’ systems. And there has yet to emerge one dominant software player.
“The technology is where word processors were in the mid-1980s,” Magee said in terms of compatibility.  “The industry absolutely needs some interoperability standards to be stronger than they are at present.”
He noted that he even finds it difficult to share information with other doctors who are using the same program, and that the IT support for the electronic records platforms tends to be inadequate.  MMLR   Questions or comments should be directed to the editor at: reni.gertner@mamedicallaw.com

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