Data Collection in Private Practice and Implementation with Electronic Medical Records

The private clinical practice provides a unique environment for the collection of useful data on the severity of disease and on the management of patients with active diseases and conditions. By virtue of the higher volume of patients seen in a given period of time, compared to the academic setting, the continuity of care (in most practices), and the diversity of patients and disease states treated in the private setting is a potentially excellent source of valuable information. Yet these same features, particular the volume of patients needed to maintain an economically viable practice, and other necessary time commitments for practice in the private setting (bill paying, phone call management, general office management), present obstacles that most private practitioners find insurmountable.