Interesting news. I wish Jon and everyone at AC well as they move forward.

I am concerned about Pri-Med and also about their parent company, Diversified Communications. A division of DC just acquired Pri-Med last November, 2011. So it's "dog eat dog eat dog." http://www.expoweb.com/article/diversified-business-communications-acquires-pri-med#.UKlku0KUCLE

Pri-Med seems as much about marketing products to docs as it does about CME. I have never attended a Pri-Med meeting--I would rather pay for CME that is free of the heavy taint of the drug companies.

I found the following info on AC's website:
Quote
Q. What can Amazing Charts bring to Pri-Med?
Physician level needs assessment ? Amazing Charts will give Pri-Med the ability to deliver individualized continuing education that is based on practice patterns identified through information users provide from their EHR.
Point of Care ? In addition to its live meetings and online CME courses, Pri-Med will now be able to provide education and information support to clinicians and patients at the point of care during a visit. The best way to do that is through an EHR system.
Practice relationships ? Amazing Charts allows Pri-Med to broaden and deepen CME offerings based on de-identified patient and practice data gleaned from an EHR.

So, it sounds like AC will be providing "de-identified patient and practice data gleaned from an EHR" to Pri-Med. The purpose of this appears to be so that Pri-Med can "provide education and information support to clinicians and patients at the point of care during a visit." Sounds like marketing to me. I would be very concerned if AC becomes a marketing tool. This sounds suspiciously like the route Practice Fusion took.

As a physician I feel it is very important that we insulate ourselves (as much as possible) from undue marketing influence. Our focus should be on care of the patient and on doing what is best for the patient--not the drug companies and others. Perhaps I am naive to think that anything in medicine is free of marketing but I don't allow drug reps in my office and would not want them paying to influence my EMR.

What do others think about this?


John Howland, M.D.
Family doc, Massachusetts