Reductive Positivity Amidst the Mire of Uncertainty

Dearest Readers,

Sure, sure, sure, we're all like, "What's going to happen with EMR?" "What if I don't get my incentive payment?" "Why won't Craig call me back?"*

(*This concern may, in fact, apply only to me.)

Friends, I have the answer: We must accentuate the positive. Because my last post was a real downer. And because things could always be worse. You could, for example, be Amy Winehouse. And -- what's more -- there have been some truly encouraging developments in the past few months with respect to EMR certification:

1) CCHIT is working around the clock alongside ARRA to define meaningful use for EMR vendors. Sure, it's still half-baked, but we can nevertheless smell its cake battery goodness emanating from the kitchen into the living room as we watch cartoons with our baby brother and fight over the remote control. And, sooner or later, Mom's gonna call us in for dessert. And by "Mom" I mean CCHIT/ARRA, and by "dessert" I mean we'll know for sure what the heck "meaningful use" means. And then lots of $$$ for you and your practice via the stimulus package's incentive payment plan.

2) Who am I really to push you to make a decision before you're ready, but: when you think about it, there is actually no reason to fret about the impending certification criteria. As I wrote in this article, EMR vendor compliance is an absolute, unconditional, take-no-prisoners, definite MUST. As in, vendor survival will depend solely on this compliance. As in, no need to delay. As in, what are you waiting for? As in, I won't hold it against you if you continue to wait, but there are some extremely important reasons why you shouldn't, like this one, for example.

3) IO Practiceware continues to be awesome. If you're not part of an ophthalmology practice, I'm sorry IO can't offer you our ophthalmology-specific software -- but if you are, you can smile broadly and pat yourself on the back for choosing the field in which the best EMR vendor in the universe has chosen to specialize. And then you can buy our software. (Why are we the best EMR vendor in the universe? Here are a few reasons why.)

So there it is folks, as promised. Reductive positivity. Because, in the words of the atomic particle: "I was pretty bummed yesterday when I lost my electron -- but you know what? Now I'm more positive."

--FR