July 14, 2009

The Endocrine Society has developed a partner agreement with EMR vendor eClinicalWorks to provide Society members a 10 percent discount on license fees for eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management (EMR&PM) Unified Upfront Solution. The choice to partner with eClinicalWorks was the result of more than two years of research and planning on the part of the Society’s Practice Management Task Force and Clinical Affairs Core Committee. Through this research, which included participation in demonstrations of many different electronic medical record systems, the Society determined that the eClinicalWorks product is one that many of its members would find suitable for their practice. Because the Society has a wide and varied membership, and recognizes that choosing one EMR product over another could imply that this product will work for every endocrinologist, the Society chose to develop a partner agreement with eClinicalWorks rather than an endorsement of the product. While the Society believes that the eClinicalWorks EMR is a system that many endocrinologists would be pleased with, we suggest endocrinologists looking to implement Health IT in their practice fully research a variety of possible EMRs to determine which system will work best in their office setting. We encourage endocrinologists to consider eClinicalWorks as one of those options.

As you consider the Health IT needs of your practice, please keep in mind that earlier this year, Congress passed legislation known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which provides financial incentives to physicians who implement Health IT in their practice. In order to qualify for the financial incentives outlined in ARRA, physicians will be required to demonstrate “meaningful use” of a certified electronic medical record. The Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has assembled a group of representatives from various medical specialties, businesses, academia, and government to determine the certification that will be necessary and how “meaningful use” of an EMR will be defined. The Endocrine Society will share this information with its members as soon as it is available.

• "Suggestions on How to Choose an EMR for Endocrinologists" by Claudia Tessier, RHIA, mHealth Initiative, Inc.
• June 2009 Endocrine News: "U.S. EMR System for Endocrinologists"
  
• April 2009 Endocrine Insider: "Society Partners with EMR Vendor eClinicalWorks; Offers Member Discount"