As we identified in an earlier post (Top 10 Compliance Threats for 2011), Electronic Medical Records, or EMRs are one of the top healthcare compliance threats to organizations in the upcoming year.
EMRs were introduced to the healthcare industry with a carrot or stick approach. Those organizations that converted from paper to electronic records early were offered financial incentives, while those who did not faced being penalized down the road. Now, nearly every organization is making the move away from paper records to electronic medical records, but for some this move has proved problematic from a healthcare compliance perspective.
EMRs- a potential compliance risk
Private contractors known as ZPICS, or Zone Program Integrity Contractors are now raising concerns about EMR programs citing inadequately designed software programs. The real problem seems to be EMR software that does an overly extensive auto fill, substituting program notes for physician observations, and causing ZPICS to claim that documentation is not adequate.
Before any organization converts to EMRs they should be aware of the risk of over automation to their compliance program, and carefully evaluate the platform that they select for their practice.
For more information on EMRs….the good, the bad, and the right choice for your organization download our Free Presentation
