GE Healthcares Centricity EMR

CENTRICITY EMR
Part 1
Product Profile (Features and Benefits)
In essence, Centricity Practice Solution could be defined as “a comprehensive Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Practice Management, Population Health, and Analytics, and Connectivity solution designed to help you enhance the clinical, operational, and financial productivity of your ambulatory practice” (GE Health, 2019). A GE Healthcare EMR System, Centricity EMR could therefore be considered an integrated EHR/EMR system that could be used by healthcare institutions and practices to further promote their productivity on the clinical front. Essentially, some of the key features of Centricity EMR include: appointment management, lab integration, patient history, scheduling, bill management, patient demographics, reporting and analytics, and e-prescription (EHR in Practice, 2019). One of the benefits of Centricity EMR is its scalability and flexibility. In this case, it should be noted that the EHR could either used in isolation or integrated with a practice’s or institution’s management solutions. Thus it could be deemed responsive to the specific needs of an organization or practice. Secondly, it should also be noted that Centricity EMR is HIPAA compliant. This effectively means that it sufficiently addresses or meets the various compliance requirements of HIPAA. Thus, the secure storage of data as well as ePHI security are factors that are well taken care of. Further, with Centricity EMR institutions and practices can benefit from e-prescribing and further track the level of care that they provide via the EMR’s Quality Care dashboard.
Description from the Product in Use
Intuitive Interface: Centricity EMR has a largely intuitive interface. The design and functionality of the said interface permits users to easily navigate and perform tasks without over-relying on the vendor’s technical team.
One-Click Entries: In this case, GE Health preloads the relevant codes with an aim of bettering functionality and ease-of-use.
Patient Summaries: It is possible to have an overview of the most relevant information of a patient when needed. The said summary could be inclusive of allergies, medications, demographics, etc.
Data Entry: users of the EMR have various data entry options to suit their specific needs. This includes quick text, templates, as well as voice.
Part 2
Reporting
Centricity Practice Solution can be utilized in a number of settings – from large hospitals/systems, to small and medium-sized healthcare institutions or practices. Thanks to Centricity EMR, healthcare organizations and practices can be able to further promote the quality of their healthcare delivery via the customization of workflows. In addition to patient visit optimization, Centricity EMR further promotes documentation completeness as well as accuracy. According to EHR in Practice (2019), with Centricity EMR, patient can through the specially designed portal be able to perform a wide range of functions. These include, but they are not limited to; viewing lab results, accessing billing statements, and scheduling appointments. It is also important to note that entities making use of Centricity EMR can be able to benchmark their practices to their counterparts at the national level as a result of the EMR software’s ability to present robust reports on outcomes in the clinical realm.
Integration
In essence, Centricity EMR is capable of integrating well with other solutions. For instance, as GE Healthcare (2019) observes, Centricity EMR has in place a connectivity solution for ease of integration with both practice management as well as revenue cycle management solutions. It is important to note that in seeking to further enhance the ability of its products to integrate seamlessly with other solutions, GE Health points out that it maintains an ecosystem that comprises of more than 100 collaborators. In its own words, the company points out that its “IT has active relationships with consultants, system integrators, resellers, hardware and software companies, and third-party content providers…” (GE Healthcare, 2019). For instance, as GE Health (as cited in EHR in Practice, 2019) observes, it is possible to integrate Centricity EMR with various imaging systems as well as devices. Towards this end, as EHR in Practice (2019) further points out, Centricity EMR “combines clinical and financial management and is designed to be used on tablets and mobile devices, allowing physicians and practice staff to carry a patient’s medical information and update them on the move.” There is also an integration feature that permits organizations and practices to connect to state registries so as to submit the relevant immunization data.
Set-up
It is important to note that proper set-up as well as training is of great relevance in the implementation of any EHR. Centricity EMR is no exception. Towards this end, GE Health advances health care organizations and practices the relevant tools as well as manpower to help with initial set-up and implementation. Owing to its flexibility, Centricity EMR properly blends into organizational processes. As a matter of fact, in the words of GE Health (2019), the company “enables practices to tailor the solution to (their) unique workflow and preferences, enabling (them) to practice medicine more effectively in the way (they) prefer.” It should also be noted that the Centricity EMR module comes with an interface that is relatively easy to comprehend and navigate. For this reason, hospital staff is likely to find it easy to work with Centricity EMR –with patient chart navigation, for instance, being a relatively simplistic process.
Support
The relevance of proper and continuous technical support when it comes to EHR/EMR cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given that issues with the proper running of the system could effectively compromise organizational functions and lead to poor care outcomes in clinical settings. Support is often inclusive of the relevant product and service upgrades so as to ensure that the EMR system is functioning at optimum and that there are no vulnerabilities that could compromise its functioning.
GE Health provides easy and simple contact routes that enable providers and organizations to reach its support as well as leadership teams. As the company points out, all its customers and those it works with are entitled to timely response to their queries. It is clear that GE Health in this case seeks to mesh with practices in formats that could be seen as promoting dialogue and continuous engagements. The company appears to recognize that such a partnership is likely to be mutually beneficial. From the onset, GE Health provides staff with the appropriate training in an attempt to promote as well as advance meaningful use. It is important to note that practices and organizations implementing new HER systems could find the entire process rather complex, involving, and intimidating. For this reason, GE Health’s move to offer or advance complete training and continuous support is a move that is both beneficial and welcome in seeking to ensure that institutions and practices get the most out of Centricity EMR.
Cost
Offering a specific figure to denote the exact cost of Centricity EMR is largely an imprecise undertaking. This is more so the case given that the cost is in this case a function of a wide range of factors. Towards this end, Centricity EMR is a highly customizable solution and the total cost applicable to one entity might not be applicable to another because of divergences in needs and uses. Having said that, it should be noted that providers and institutions are likely to pay a one-time fee for both the implementation as well as installation of Centricity EMR. It must also be noted that Centricity EMR can be quite pricey when we include or take into consideration the EMR’s various add-ons. This is more so the case given that the EMR could come with various add-ons that a provider or organization has to pay for on a need basis. Further, institutions and practices are required to pay annual maintenance and support fees. Again, these vary depending on the specific circumstances and/or needs of a practice or institution.
Infrastructure
For organizations not ready to spend on a fully functional IT infrastructure or are somewhat concerned about their ability to successfully maintain a robust IT system, GE Health has a solution. The company offers hosting services that permits entities to benefit from Centricity EMR’s full capabilities without necessarily having to set up or maintain their own system. On this front, GE Health has the relevant infrastructure in their possession and performs the management and servicing role. Even with such an arrangement in place, GE Health permits organizations and practices to not only gain access to integrated applications, but also customize workflows.
Case Studies
There are numerous practices as well as organizations that have in the past implemented Centricity EMR. An evaluation of the EMR in various rating sites indicates that the product has a generally positive review. For instance, according to Capterra (2019), on the basis of numerous reviews, Centricity EMR has an overall score of 4/5; ease of use score of 3.5/5; and customer service score of 3.5/5. The institutions and practices that will be cited herein in seeking to assess Centricity EMR’s performance are Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic and Ammonoosuc Community Health Services.
a) Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic
Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic (KCBJ) seeks to provide orthopedic services to individuals suffering from injuries and disorders of a musculoskeletal nature. It should also be noted that “along with general orthopedic surgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation, KCBJ has orthopedic surgeons with fellowship training in total joint replacement, sports medicine, hand surgery, foot and ankle surgery, knee, shoulder, and ankle arthroscopy” (KCBJ, 2019). Various improvements at the Kansas City Bone and Joint Clinic were associated with the implementation as well as utilization of Centricity EMR. Towards this end, the said clinic made use of the customization capabilities of Centricity EMR to further enhance/increase its patient volume (KCBJ, 2019).
b) Ortho Northeast
Ortho Northeast (ONE) describes itself as the Greater Fort Wayne Indiana area’s “premier orthopedic center … with an impressive track record of state-of-the-art orthopedic care and pioneering surgical techniques” (ONE, 2019). It is important to note that ONE was able to streamline its workflows by successfully leveraging Centricity EMR. In this particular case, the entity was able to significantly bring down cycle times (ONE, 2019).



References
Capterra (2019). Centricity Practice Solution. Retrieved from https://www.capterra.com/p/5486/Centricity-Practice-Solution/
EHR in Practice (2019). Centricity EMR. Retrieved from https://www.ehrinpractice.com/centricity-emr-software-profile-378.html
GE Health (2019). Centricity Practice Solution. Retrieved from https://www.gehealthcare.com/en/products/healthcare-it/electronic-medical-records/centricity-practice-solution
Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic – KCBJ (2019). The KCBJ Story. Retrieved from https://www.kcbj.com/about/
Ortho Northeast - ONE (2019). Welcome To ONE. Retrieved from https://www.orthone.com/about/