• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Augusta, Maine, Hospital Tests Electronic Medical Records System

Posted on: Sunday, 23 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

By Gary Remal, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Oct. 23--AUGUSTA -- Local health care is going online.

At MaineGeneral's Family Medicine Institute, doctors now can talk with patients while holding wireless computer keypads, giving them instant access to the patient's medical records. New information can likewise be entered into the database, becoming part of a patient's permanent health record.

The institute is one of seven MaineGeneral offices testing the new electronic medical records system, which MaineGeneral officials plan to phase in throughout its doctors' offices, clinics and other facilities in Augusta and Waterville.

"It's a matter of better efficiency and safety, and they're really two sides of the same coin," said Dr. Dan Mingle, a 20-year veteran physician in charge of the system's testing.

The first phase of the project linked seven MaineGeneral physicians' offices. Subsequent phases will bring in all 112 practices associated with MaineGeneral, including medical specialists, emergency room physicians and other medical practitioners, Mingle said.

He said having a central set of medical records for each patient: -- reduces errors, -- warns doctors and other medical professionals about allergies or medication interactions, -- eliminates the need for duplicate medical tests and -- cuts down on time spent trying to obtain medical histories from patients' memories.

Because it's relatively small and planning early, Maine could be one of the first states -- if not the first -- to implement a functioning, statewide, Web-based system for patient records, said Dr. Wendy Wolf of the Maine Health Access Foundation.

"I hope we could have a fully functional system by 2010, which isn't that far away," she said.

Mingle said the project could take 10 to 15 years to fully implement.

While off to an early start, the cost to bring the whole system online could reach $20 million to $30 million, most of which, Wolf said, could fall on state taxpayers, perhaps via a state bond issue. Originally, the system was estimated to cost $50 million.

Complete online records would save money, mistakes and, ultimately, lives, Wolf said.

Finding the start-up investment from insurers and other institutions that might benefit likely would be difficult, she said.

"I think we have to work with the Maine people to show this is something for the public good and something that serves everyone in Maine," Wolf said.

"Once we get it started, I think we'll be able to find money to fund it without turning to the people. One of the things we have to demonstrate to Maine people is that they are already paying for the inefficiencies in the system."

To meet that schedule, she said, lawmakers would likely have to take action to fund the project in the next two years or so.

James Harnar, former president of the Maine Health Information Center that oversees the project, said $430,000 already has been invested: an initial $180,000 for a feasibility study and $250,000 for planning and development.

"It's very exciting stuff," Harnar said. "They're trying to save your life and they know very little about you. They might know 5 or 10 percent (of the medical information) about you. If this project could increase that, bring it up to 30-40 percent, it's going to save lives and improve quality" of care.

"Another important thing, a lot of people don't have health insurance and don't have a primary care doctor, and subsequently may not have medical records of any kind," Harnar said. "We want to build the system so it will create an electronic record for people who may not have a doctor."

Wolf said electronic medical records are a hot topic among physicians struggling to streamline their practices and reduce errors while depending on paper files and fax machines.

It also has grabbed the attention of a diverse set of groups that worry about the centralizing and storing of sensitive medical data -- and who has access to it.

Even the American Medical Association has shown concern.

It issued an opinion that "the utmost effort and care must be taken to protect the confidentiality of all medical records, including computerized medical records" and has developed a set of guidelines to assist physicians and computer designers in maintaining confidentiality of databases.

Mingle cited two other important hurdles: providing correct patient identifications and developing ways to tailor retrieved information.

As an example, Mingle said a problem could come when a person's records from several sources are entered into the system. Without careful prevention, that could result in several different files being created for the same person.

That could mean a doctor might miss important information on a patient because it does not appear in the file he or she pulls up.

"As a physician you take the information people can give you and you go ahead, flying by the seat of your pants and hoping they're correct," Wolf said.

-----

To see more of the Kennebec Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kjonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

More News in this Category