Accelerating e-Prescribing

Governors Encourage Accelerated Adoption of e-Prescribing

According to a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, states are using innovative strategies to address the issue of integrated electronic health records and the electronic exchange of health information.

Accelerating the adoption of e-prescribing was the main focus of the report.  According to NGA, e-prescribing "improves patient safety and quality of care, increases prescribing accuracy and efficiency and reduces health care costs by making critical information available to health care providers. The use of e-prescribing will grow as states and others provide support for e-prescribing."

In recent years, e-prescribing has grown significantly.  At the current rate of adoption, e-prescribing will reach at least 50 percent of all prescriptions by 2012, according to State Alliance for e-Health Call to Action for NGA.

Stimulus Funds Help Train HIT Workers

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (recently announced that $220 million in federal stimulus funds will be disbursed to programs that train workers in health care and other high-growth industries. Sec. Solis unveiled the plan Tuesday in Topeka, where she toured the Shawnee County Community Health Care Clinic.

Solis said in a news release that $25 million of the funds would be reserved for training in communities hurt by the recent restructuring of the auto industry.  The stimulus money will go to public entities and private non-profit groups that train workers in health information technology, nursing, long-term care and allied health careers.

Electronic Medical Records Work Well for Physicians

Doctors increasingly use e-mail and electronic medical records to improve health care. In an essay in the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Rahul Parikh, who is a pediatrician, writes about his own experience at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Northern California where they recently implemented an electronic medical record system:  "...notes, orders and prescriptions are clear and contiguous. There's no waiting for paperwork. And if a patient of mine shows up in another office across town (Kaiser is an integrated system -- we all share the same computer network), a doctor whom I have never met can see what I've written, my patient's list of problems and what I've done for the patient in the past before he or she even sets foot in the room to talk to the patient. Such record systems can alert us to possible medication errors or dangerous drug interactions. They can continuously be updated to identify best practices. And they talk to patients as well, allowing them to access past-visit information and immunization records and to make appointments and send e-mails to their doctor."

The piece explores criticism of electronic medical records including that data is rarely rechecked for accuracy, concern about the security of computerized health information, and what happens to health care should a system crash. Parikh ends the piece: "Ultimately, getting away from a pen and paper is better for my patients. So though electronic medical records are far from perfect, you'd have to tear my cold, dead hand from the mouse to make me go back to relying solely on pen and paper."

Surescripts and eHI Offer Webinar on e-Prescribing

CHT Member Surescripts in partnership with the eHealth Initiative (eHI) are hosting a new series of webinars, entitled “Nuts and Bolts of e-Prescribing.” The first webinar in the series,

"Case Studies of Large Physician Practices"will take place on July 15, 2009, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. ET.

 

This series of webinars will build off previous electronic prescribing webinars and cover a broad range of topics related to adoption and implementation of e-prescribing, such as:

• How to Get Started
• Implementation Best Practices
• Physician Case Studies
• Health System/Large Clinic Case Studies
• Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Case Studies

Join eHI and Surescripts for "Case Studies of Large Physician Practices"on July 15, 2009, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. ET. The webinar will feature experts discussing their experiences implementing e-prescribing, including: sharing of best practices, steps to overcoming obstacles, implementation advice, and more!

 

Presenters include: Tammy Anderer, Ph.D., CRNP, Department of Best Practices, Geisinger Health System and Maggie Felger, Information Technology Manager; Austin Regional Clinic.

 

Click hereto register today.

e-Health Savannah Project: Records upgrade tests docs

The following article recently appeared in the Savannah Morning News regarding electronic medical records systems recently installed in a free health clinic:

Volunteer Dr. Robert Proctor calls it the "kennel" where old dogs prove they can learn new tricks. Dr. Miriam Rittmeyer, executive director of the Community Health Mission, calls it the face of the future where electronic medical records replace paper for improved medical care for low-income and uninsured adults.

The computer-based system promises to streamline record keeping, reduce errors and enhance treatment of patients at the Eisenhower Drive site and at St. Mary's Community Center in Cuyler-Brownville. "The system is really beautiful," Rittmeyer said. "We are excited about it. It's going to make a difference."

The system went online June 9 - two weeks after St. Mary's went active - as staff and volunteer docs began the learning process.  It all began in July 2007 when Anita Nivens, associate professor of nursing and graduate nursing coordinator at Armstrong Atlantic State University, obtained a $1.4 million grant over five years to use the two clinics as partners.

A family nursing practitioner since 1980, Nivens said she saw first-hand the great needs of the uninsured and set out to help find solutions.  "What we do doesn't begin to scratch the surface," she said. But it is a great help, Rittmeyer said.

Because the clinics rely on Memorial University Medical Center and the St. Joseph's/Candler system respectively, the new program provides collaboration with the hospitals, Rittmeyer said. It will eventually link the two clinics with federally qualified centers at Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health Care and Union Mission's J.C. Lewis Health Center through the Chatham County's Safety Net Planning Council, Rittmeyer said.

By year's end, they will be connected to pharmacies.  And down the road, to emergency departments at the three local hospitals, Rittmeyer said.

The Community Health Mission is the combination of the Savannah Health Mission and the Community HealthCare Center providing primary health care for low-income and uninsured folk.  It found a kindred spirit in the Alliance for Chicago Community Health Services, a group of four inner-city sites serving the same basic groups.

And with it, the group's cutting-edge use of electronic medical records. With the program used by the Chicago group, doctors are able to view patient histories, medications, schedules, instructions and allergies on a screen with the click of the mouse.

For Proctor and many of a group of almost 100 doctors - including 18 retired physicians - who volunteer at the mission, the new system is a challenge.  Most are products of the hand-written charts and records being replaced by the new system.  Once they overcome the newness, they can see the benefit.

"I'm the old dog and this is the new trick," Proctor, 75, said as he fired up his computer program. "I'm seeing patients in two-thirds the time as I did last week."  An internal medicine specialist, Proctor practiced medicine for 50 years, most recently in emergency rooms across Georgia.  He has been at the mission since September and retired from paid medicine in November.  He volunteers on Tuesdays, and on Thursday's he works with another clinic on Gamble Road with a largely Hispanic population.

Ailments range from diabetes and hypertension to obesity and occasionally mental health issues.  Here, financial problems mix with medical issues.  "These people are under a lot of stress," he said. 

Massachusetts Bill Extends Tax Breaks for Companies Encouraging e-Prescribing

Companies that make it easier for doctors to write prescriptions electronically would be eligible for a tax break under a bill being considered on Beacon Hill.

Massachusetts lawmakers have been pushing hospitals, doctors and insurers to make the switch to electronic medical records-keeping saying. They say it could save millions in paperwork at a time when the state is trying to reign in runaway health care costs.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, would give companies a tax break on the cost of purchasing and installing the technology.

The Waltham Democrat is also backing a bill giving companies tax breaks for sponsoring employee wellness programs.