What an interesting week it has been in the healthcare community. Personally, I have been slammed with new practices opening and daily questions about what solutions or options are best for different clients with my practice start-up company. Doctors starting a new practice often are overwhelmed by the decisions and impossible regulations surrounding them opening their doors. We handle the insurance side through our Physician Credentialing company and work with the doctors to get their practice started on the right foot.
Of course, we offer our expertise during the EMR/EHR selection and implementation process (for free) but one thing we have stayed away from until recently is the T1 internet vs. DSL internet debate. I see a lot of practices that are bamboozled by their EMR companies into thinking that their DSL internet can handle the new ASP and client server EMR demands.
I was on a conference call with OncoEMR doing a demo with a client/friend and Onco was telling him that “your dsl will be fine for the bandwidth that you need”. How can they say this when they have no idea what bandwidth they are currently using and how the new software will impact their overall operations. I then brought up the conversation with a rep/friend of mine at Allscripts and he said that they would tell clients the same thing because they did not want to make them face the fact that they would need to spend more money and most likely change their current internet provider. It made me think, I wonder how many practices are struggling with their download and upload speed and their interoffice communications because of an uneducated and ill advised EMR/PM provider. Remember that the sales people will tell you whatever you need to hear to close the deal and nothing more.
I wrote an article about this issue and hopefully it has helped people at least question the motives behind some of the EMR providers. Here is the article : EMR Connectivity Issues T1 vs. DSL
