The Ohio State Medical Association, representing 20,000 Ohio physicians, residents, medical students and practice managers, says its Standards of Excellence Program has helped save time and money in adopting electronic medical records.

The program, a collaboration between OSMA and The Coker Group, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based  healthcare consulting firm, recognizes EMR vendors that voluntarily agree to amend their contracts with OSMA member practices to include an approved list of terms and conditions that will help guarantee that physician rights are protected in the contracting process. The vendors also provide OSMA members with preferred pricing.

"We are very pleased with the early results from the Standards of Excellence Program," said OSMA President Warren F. Muth, MD. "Our members have access to EMR vendors that have physician-friendly contracts and offer them member discounts on EMR products. We are pleased to join with The Coker Group and this group of vendors to help make the EMR decision-making process easier."

The OSMA and The Coker Group recommend that each EMR contract be thoroughly reviewed because it may need to include practice-specific objectives that are not possible to cover in a standard contract. The Coker Group is providing an initial contract and quote validation review at no charge to OSMA members to help address this issue. The request is to be made through the OSMA.