The goal of this site is to provide practice executives and hospital administrators with a resource to learn first hand knowledge about the various Electronic Medical Record vendors out there. We also want to let everyone know about the companies offering Free EMR Solutions. There are only a handful of EMR vendors out there offer their EMR products to practices for free. It is hard to say that there is really anything for 100% free because you eventually do pay something, even it is just for upgrades a year from now. This site is designed to educate administrators and physicians on what questions to ask and how to effectively implement the RIGHT program for your office.
You have few types of Free EMR solutions, you have the companies that you provide services and in exchange offer free emr software such as billing services like mtbc.com, then you have the emr vendors who offer free emr but you pay for support and implementation. You also have Practice Fusion which covers its costs by advertising on the home page of the EMR program through a banner ad on the sidebar or in the footer.
We recommend that whatever EMR product you look at, that you select one with quality support and training. The government stimulus plan is going to pay you for using electronic medical records but you must use emr software that qualifies. This means that many of the smaller companies will not be eligible and this is an important consideration considering the money that you will leave on the table by going with these smaller free companies. There are some programs out there that have great support and training and actually have a good program, but again, it depends on your specialty and specific needs. You do not want to select something that will slow you down and keep you from being productive.
Companies that provide a service based EMR could be a good option for practices that are utilizing these types of services anyways. Billing companies are offering EMR solutions to their clients at discount or sometimes free. Companies like Physicians World Online, Athena Health, and MTBC are just a few. Some specialties can also have their lab pay for up to 85% of the cost directly to the EMR vendor. A provision for this was made in the Stark III law allowing hospitals and labs to pay for up to 85% of the direct cost.
Free and Open Source EMR Programs include:
Vista Open Source EMR-VA hospital
Elemental Clinical
FreeDom Doctors Office Manager
eMDfix
There are other companies out there that offer Free or discounted EMR but with the requirements of CCHIT and the stimulus plan, theses companies are not a viable option. You must select an EMR company that is going to be around and that will invest the 100s of thousands of dollars needed to stay compliant in this red tape filled healthcare industry. We suggest that you read the fine print with any company and make sure that the company is going to be around after you implement your practice management or emr solution.
Take a moment to browse the articles and post your own comments about your experience, good or bad with Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management Software. We need to hear from our readers so we can learn from mistakes and successes associated with purchasing a new emr or pm solution.
For more information email EMR@FreeEMRsolution.com