| As the electronic health record (EHR) discussion | | | | standards, one has to wonder: Is the EMR the |
| rages on, I'm continually asked why organizations | | | | silver - or Magic - bullet that will get you there? |
| need healthcare software such as enterprise | | | | Does it provide the capability and functionality to |
| content management (ECM) or document | | | | meet all of the requirements? |
| management if they already have an electronic | | | | My short answer: No. Depending on what you've |
| medical record (EMR) - that's a lot of acronyms, I | | | | heard so far, this might be a bold statement. But, |
| know. | | | | in my experience, there's absolutely no way that |
| I've tried saying, "EMR and ECM - it's not an | | | | one single technology is enough. |
| apples-to-apples comparison. It's really more like | | | | It's not just me who's thinking this - the market is |
| apples-to-oranges." But that response only elicits | | | | proving it. An article last summer about trends |
| more questions. So, in an effort to bring clarity to | | | | affecting the document management market |
| the EMR vs. ECM showdown, I'll expand a bit. Let's | | | | focused on one trend in particular: that EMR and |
| start with an analogy to one of my favorite pop | | | | ECM integrations were rising. What's more, it |
| culture infomercial phenomena: the Magic Bullet. | | | | suggested that EMR vendors are taking notice of |
| Have you seen this thing? It claims to be able to | | | | this and, as a result, aren't developing their own |
| do it all - chop, mince, grate AND blend! When I | | | | inclusive ECM solutions because it's not what they |
| first saw it on TV, I was impressed by the vast | | | | do best. |
| capabilities of this "blender." It made me believe | | | | So here's the bottom line: EMR and ECM solutions |
| that a single tool really could do all of those things | | | | bring immense value to healthcare organizations, |
| - and do them all well. | | | | both by adding their own functionality and by |
| In fact, a quick Web search revealed that, overall, | | | | complementing that of the other. But when EMRs |
| many reviewers are satisfied with the Magic Bullet. | | | | pretend to be ECM, vendors overpromise, |
| But, an interesting theme emerged - while it does | | | | customers get confused, and in healthcare, |
| everything claimed in the infomercial, it doesn't do | | | | patients are put at risk. |
| all of those things well. You get where I'm going | | | | So to all the software vendors and |
| with this. | | | | made-for-television gurus out there: Know what |
| Putting this in the context of the "meaningful use" | | | | you do, do it well - and stick to it. |