Author Archives: Katherine Rourke

About Katherine Rourke

Katherine Rourke is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

Some Epic Stats From The New York Times

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Katherine Rourke

Most of hear a lot  (for some of us, way too much) about the coolness of Epic Systems’ sprawling 800-acre campus in Madison, WI.  You know, it has a treehouse for meetings, a Cat in the Hat statute in one … Continue reading →

Posted in Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital EMR Vendor, Hospital Healthcare IT | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hospital EMR Crashes And Burns Because Community Docs Hate It

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Katherine Rourke

While we may argue over the stats — is it 30 percent, 40 percent, even 50 percent? — everyone knows that the failure rates for hospital EMR installations are frighteningly high. So it never hurts to look at specific cases … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Hospitals, EMR ROI, Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital EMR Vendor, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Budget, Hospital IT Jobs, Mid-Size Hospitals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hospital System Builds EMR Buy-In Using Social Media

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Katherine Rourke

If you’re like most IT leaders, you’re used to leaving the social media efforts to your marketing department. But maybe you’re missing out. Here’s a nice example of how hospital CIOs can use social media to move EMR buy-in ahead using … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Hospitals, Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital EMR Vendor, Hospital Healthcare IT | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ACO Proves Major Political Turning Point For Boston Hospital Chain

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Katherine Rourke

Transforming a hospital system into a fully-functioning ACO is a huge project, and one which requires a big commitment.  It’s hardly surprising that going through the process would change how its leaders think about their business.  But the following is … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, hospital administration, hospital operations, hospital transformation, physician relations, politics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Big EMR Problems To Tackle in 2012

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury 2011 EMR assumptions, not to praise them. Here’s some of the critical problems we didn’t kick this year: * Just about everything we’d like to see happen with EMRs … Continue reading →

Posted in EMR ROI, Healthcare CIO, HIE, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Budget, IDN, Mid-Size Hospitals, Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Is Your EMR Hooked Up To The World?

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

A few months ago, I was having a conversation with a vendor executive about the challenges EMR companies face.  He said that in his mind, the big differentiator won’t be interfaces or even key features, but the extent to which … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Hospitals, EMR ROI, Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital EMR Vendor, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Budget, Meaningful Use | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hospital Uses Disney Magic To Improve Patient Satisfaction

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

Ideally, patients come away from their hospital stay not only healthier, but happier too. So how about taking a page from the Happiest Place On Earth?  Yes, I mean Disney Land. Dissatisfied with its patient satisfaction scores, one Florida hospital … Continue reading →

Posted in hospital administration, hospital marketing, hospital operations, Patient satisfaction | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

EMR Helps Philly Hospitals Reduce Readmissions

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

The pressure is on to reduce readmissions, and hospitals are hoping to leverage their ginormous investments in EMRs to help the job along.  Well, here’s a case where that actually happened. A recent survey of 29 Philadelphia-based hospitals concluded that … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital Healthcare IT, Meaningful Use | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

More Mobile Questions: Do Your Devices Play Nicely?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

Today I had a very interesting conversation with a health IT exec (full disclosure: a client) about the future of mobile devices in hospitals. His perspective, which sounded dead-on to me, was that while mobility is great, making sure your … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Budget, Meaningful Use, Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Be Prepared: Mobile Devices May Create Care Risks

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

So, you’ve invested in mobile devices for your clinicians, you’ve beta-tested them successfully with your EMR, and you’ve bullet-proofed the back-end software that supports them. You’re ready to roll. Sweet! Um, maybe not so sweet, if you don’t have policies … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EMR, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Budget, Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off