Going paperless: Counties join initiative for electronic records

Jeff Broddle | Cadillac News Hillary Chaffee looks at electronic patient records at Mercy Hospital Cadillac. Health care providers in Osceola and Lake counties are part of a pioneering initiative to establish an electronic medical record infrastructure in Michigan.

If you consider Mercy Hospital retains patient records dating back to 1908, the year Ford rolled out the Model T, you might get a sense of how welcome the move toward paperless records has become. Add to that enhanced patient care and cost savings and it explains why the state has committed $4.5 million to quickening the conversion.

“Our overall goal is to improve the quality of care using technology as so many other industries have used,” said Beth Nagel, Health Information Manager for the Michigan Department of Community Health.

MDCH and the state’s information technology department are collaborating with regional health entities to establish a Health Information Exchange. Once established, the HIE will allow health care organizations within communities to instantly move information between providers.

The state is divided into seven regions for the project. During the 14-month long Phase One, each region will develop its own strategies for building the infrastructure and a central information resource center will be established. The second phase will implement statewide exchanges.

“Think of it as you would a public utility, like a water or electricity system,” said Bridget White, vice president of the Alliance for Health, a nonprofit community coalition. “A health information exchange is a public utility to improve the quality of care. Providers can get accurate and complete information right away at the point of care.”

The Alliance for Health serves 13 West Michigan counties including Osceola and Lake counties. Wexford and Missaukee counties are included in the initiative managed by the North Central Council of the Michigan Hospital Association.

Regional planning will involve a cross section of the community. More than 100 individuals have volunteered to participate in the Alliance for Health initiative including physicians and nurses, health insurers, municipal leaders, employers and consumers. Work groups will explore types of information that will be shared, technology, legalities and how the system can be sustained locally.

Lindsay Rumohr, Client Executive for BlueWare, a Cadillac-based health care technology provider, estimates more than 10 percent of physician offices today have converted to electronic record keeping.

Health care information is more challenging to convert to an electronic system than industries based on numbers such as banking, according to Rumohr.

“That information is black and white. It’s basically just numbers,” she said. “Health care is so complicated.”

Despite the challenges, Rumohr believes the technology exists to make even a national HIE possible within a timeline of 2014 set forth by President Bush.

When in place, a HIE is expected to improve patient care and save costs by making a “cradle to grave” patient record available to providers. Instant records will reduce unnecessary testing and facilitating treatment will be based on the most accurate information.

“The biggest savings will come in reducing redundancy in testing,” Rumohr said. “There are other smaller costs savings — like the cost of printing a 100-page record and sending it snail mail.”

The effort to build an HIE is not new. Forty to 50 percent of hospitals already have some electronic information exchange system in place. Mercy Hospital has partnered with Munson Healthcare since 2003 in an electronic health record system standardizing information and allowing electronic transfer between hospitals.

“The information is available to transferring hospitals before the patient reaches the emergency room door which speeds up delivery of care,” said Jill Knapp, Health Information Services Manager at Mercy.

For the past four years, Mercy’s electronic system has included data on patient test results, x-rays, cardiac testing, consultations, physical exams, patient histories and bar coding of medication.

Spectrum Health’s Reed City campus also has the capability for electronic transfer between facilities within the Spectrum network. While information privacy and security are issues with electronic records, Pam Bowman, the Reed City campus Technology and Information Solutions Manager, said the technology provides ample safety nets.

“We have so many check points to secure the network and each PC,” she said. “We’ve got back-ups of back-ups and change passwords on a regular basis. I don’t see how a computer could be responsible for leaking (information). We even have laptops encrypted. We have taken every step to make sure the data is safe.”

Maintaining the records at the hospital requires 17 workers, according to Bowman. She predicts a paperless system to reduce man hours an provide additional cost savings to hospital operations.

Consumers should be proactive and learn how their medical records are being kept, according to Rumohr. Just ask, she said.

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The plan

President Bush’s Health Information Technology Plan:

Most Americans will have electronic health records available at time and place of care by 2015.

Electronic health records will be designed to share information privately and securely between providers when authorized by patient.

To achieve the goal the plan calls for adoption of voluntary standards to allow for sharing among health care providers.

sbarber@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)