The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Patient medical  records go digital

Atrium switches to paperless system

Skydiving boogie this weekend
New 3 min. ago
Resident burned in fire remains in hospital
Updated 4 min. ago
Have you seen this man?
Updated 27 min. ago
Gas prices rising this weekend
Updated 29 min. ago
Home builders continue fight against township impact fees
6:11 p.m.
> More headlines

E-mail this page

By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 9:49 PM Sunday, July 19, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — Atrium Medical Center’s records have entered the digital age in a move officials say could save both money and lives.

The hospital has moved to a paperless medical records system, powered by Epic Systems. The technology allows staff to pull up an entire patient’s history electronically when they use a Premier Health Partner’s site as well as allow nurses to chart a patient’s care. Doctors can scan notes into the system and will be able to directly enter them in November, said Mikki Clancy, Premier Health Partners vice president and chief information officer.

The result is doctors are able to know instantaneously whether a patient has prior conditions, allergies, X-rays, results from past testing and other vital information that can enhance care and reduce errors and duplicated work. In addition, doctors can e-prescribe, sending prescriptions electronically to participating pharmacies, she said.

“It’s a huge improvement in care, especially when you have patients that are disoriented and can’t talk or don’t have a family member there,” Clancy said.

Patients undergoing surgery also will receive a code they can share with family members to track progress, from post-op to recovery, through monitors in the waiting room, said Wendy Parks, Atrium spokeswoman.

“This (system), along with the ability to share medical information between our sister hospitals, is a wonderful benefit to patients as it can result in better continuity of care between multiple caregivers,” said Carol Turner, executive vice president of chief operation officer at Atrium.

The technology comes with a hefty price tag, about $50 million for the hardware, equipment, implementation and connections between Premier facilities. However, Clancy said the payoff is big in terms of improving the safety and quality of care as well as the overall patient experience.

Atrium is one of three Premier hospitals to have the paperless system, with ambulatory clinics and doctor’s offices added to the connection each day. Clancy said the entire health group should go live by the end of 2010.

While the number of hospitals outside the Premier system that can share patient data electronically is limited, by 2014 all records should be electronic due to the Health Information Technology Act.

While patients still may see some paper, Clancy said it is becoming less every day.

“It’s really exciting for the Middletown area to have such an advanced technology and be at the forefront of this,” she said.

Share this article

ADD COMMENT

Comments feed

I heard that all they have to do is flip a switch and all the patients can have access.

Anxiously waiting....
1:07 AM, 7/25/2009

REPORT ABUSE

To JB why were you not worried that Bush was wire tapping your phone and taking screen shots of every internet website you went to. I would rather have someone watching my medical records which holds value than someone listening to my call with Aunt Fran.

Barb
10:59 AM, 7/20/2009

REPORT ABUSE

I am a nurse a Miami Valley Hospital.We have had NO problems with anyone hacking the system, getting viruses or anything else of that nature. And no the patient does not have access.You still must go through Medical Records to get your records.This is a BIG help with giving quality care.Your MD can see ALL past tests to compare and give more accurate diagnoses or catch what maybe was missed by another MD in being diagnosed.Also cuts way down on medication errors by scanning them in @ patient.

ex middletown resident
10:16 AM, 7/20/2009

REPORT ABUSE

Medical records computerized. Now, hackers can invade Atrium's new system and retrieve your medical data, SS numbers, etc. and can leave right before injecting a virus. There is still some value in having the old fashion paper folders with all your medical records for the medical office (and you) to control, isn't there? Will the patient be able to access their own records as read only? If not, why not?

Jerky Gerkenheim
7:17 AM, 7/20/2009

REPORT ABUSE

I had a stress test at the Atrium. I was told my 10% of the bill not covered by insurance was abt $100, as the test was abt $1,000. I got the bill & the total was $7,000. I was wondering why it was so much higher than expected, but this explains it! The Atrium starting to recoup part of the $50 million for the paperless records. 1st the ER diagnosed my daughter with bronchitis when she actually had congestive heart failure, now this! I found myself a new heart doc & hospital in Cincinnati

That Explains It!
10:28 PM, 7/19/2009

REPORT ABUSE

There are 2 additional comments

SHOW ALL

We welcome your comments. Please remember this is a public forum and behave appropriately. Your comments must conform to our visitor's agreement.