There are distressing similarities between what the United States faced with HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s and the current opioid epidemic. Most people have a personal story related to the harm that can be associated with opioids. The numbers of opioid deaths and people suffering from substance use disorder has reached staggering numbers.

As caregivers, we all fall victim to “alert fatigue,” when the sheer number of alerts a clinician receives causes them to unknowingly miss important safety warnings. Ironically, all these alerts that are meant to improve patient safety can cause workers to become desensitized and potentially miss important warnings; from incessant smartphone buzzing, to tablet chimes or the blinking red indicat...

HIMSS demands a lot of attention from our marketing department, and for good reason; the annual conference is unquestionably the premier event in the healthcare IT industry. I’ve been the lead writer for MEDITECH’s branding for several years, and I can attest that we begin preparing for the next HIMSS mere days after the conference concludes. This year was no different, save for one exciting de...

CMIO Amanda Finley of Magnolia Regional Health Center explains how their MEDITECH EHR has helped care teams quickly diagnose and treat patients arriving in the ED.

When I think about how far we've come with providing care across the entire care continuum, it reminds me of one of my favorite documentaries, Remaking American Medicine.  One of the patients this PBS series introduces is a woman with multiple chronic diseases. It's clear how important her community is, in making sure that she and her many caregivers are all on the same page.

Clinician burnout is a topic we’ve covered in detail here on the MEDITECH blog, and for good reason. Long nights of excessive documentation are taking time away from clinicians, interfering with their relationships with patients. We’ve compiled some recommendations from clinicians and industry leaders on how to address staff burnout. 

We’ve all sat through meetings where important tasks are discussed, but when it comes time to delegate the work or follow-up afterward, things get lost in the shuffle. This is especially common for those of us working in a hectic Emergency Department.

Meet Expanse, our next-generation web platform.

Blow out the candles: our blog turns one today. When we first created this vehicle, it was because we truly believed it was MEDITECH’s responsibility as a healthcare leader to help providers drive important conversations. Our company has always been willing to knock down barriers for the sake of patients, and also for the sake of leading the industry forward.

There is no shortage of social determinants of health (SDOH) that can present roadblocks for patients in Kalispell, Montana. Our vast landscape means that patients may live some 30 miles from their providers. With limited access to public transportation, many patients are left struggling to attend regular primary care appointments. We also live in a zero vacancy area, making it nearly impossibl...

See how you can experience convenient, remote interaction with your patients with MEDITECH's Virtual Visit functionality.

Healthcare IT should always be about the patient. To that end, interoperability is the cornerstone of this patient-first perspective — as an important support mechanism for the timely and effective exchange of information critical for delivering patient care.

Helen Waters, Executive Vice President, discusses MEDITECH's new platform, Expanse

As most of us in healthcare know, interoperability is not quite where it needs to be for our patients. While technology can make everyday life much more agile, sometimes it seems like IT is leaving the patient experience behind.

Dr. Travis, CMIO & Cardiologist at Grand View Health discusses how MEDITECH's Web-based Ambulatory Solution helped him make a difference for a patient.

Think of where your hospital’s IT department was six years ago. Now, consider where it is today — and how you see it evolving in the future. In the past six years, Halifax Health has undergone a total transformation in how we approach IT, from having experienced a number of challenges, to being named the Best Place to Work in IT in midsized organizations for three straight years by Computerwor...

Improving stroke outcomes is all about recognizing stroke symptoms FAST and cutting the time between symptom onset and treatment. Ischemic strokes, which account for 88% of all stroke cases, leave patients with only a small three-to-four-and-a-half hour window in which they can receive medication, without suffering potentially permanent disability. When it comes to these patients, there is lite...

Here at MEDITECH, we work to create insightful content and provide a platform for thought leaders in the healthcare community to discuss industry trends and solutions. From sharing customer success stories, to tips and suggestions on how to navigate the transforming world of healthcare, the MEDITECH blog has become a go-to resource for healthcare leaders.

A hot topic of conversation in the last few months has been the Annals of Family Medicine study observing that primary care physicians spend an average of 86 minutes of “pajama time” each night catching up on work from the day.This study was co-written by researchers from the AMA, which brought to mind their 8 EHR Usability Principles that were published in 2014. At the time these principles wer...

I was rounding with a colleague in the pediatric area of The Valley Hospital, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, when we entered the room of a young boy with his mother sitting by his bed. As we entered, we explained that we were visiting pediatric patients to see if they were interacting with the newly-installed GetWell Inpatient™ solution, GetWellNetwork’s interactive software that uses a bedside TV t...

Ultimately, the opioid crisis gripping America today is about pain. More specifically, it’s about how we as medical professionals address pain, representing a shift in philosophy over the last several years. Rather than apply the same guidelines to opioids that we apply to antibiotics — Is there a legitimate medical purpose for these drugs? What are the professional standards that doctors apply...

Ample evidence indicates that improved patient engagement is better for doctors and patients. With EHRs and government regulations, the rise of patient portals has been dramatic. A recent AMA study says that 92% of hospitals offer the ability to view medical records through an online portal (compared to 43% in 2013). But availability of an online portal doesn’t mean patients are accessing or ge...

John Tollerson, DO, CMIO of Kalispell Regional Medical Center discusses how MEDITECH’s Web Ambulatory solution is raising standards for patient care and interstaff communications.

It goes without saying that nurses are busy. Caring for patients and keeping up with documentation (amidst their many other clinical responsibilities) takes up the majority of their time and resources. However, there are tools that nurses should add to their arsenal, that won’t take more time out of their day, but rather, give time back to them.

As care providers, we do everything we can to ensure that our patients have the best possible outcomes. However, we tend to think we have a lot more control than we actually do.

Listen as physicians discuss what they like best about MEDITECH's Web Ambulatory Solution

MEDITECH customers discuss the importance of a strong partnership with their EHR vendor.