|
Taking a Lead in Medical Technology With all of the new information systems and medical technology introduced, this year could certainly be called “The Year of Technology” at Deborah Heart and Lung Center. And although the current impetus for more patient-centered technology has been largely driven by the Center’s desire to improve clinical efficiency by allowing doctors, nurses and technologists to spend more time in actual patient care and less on documentation, there is a new national emphasis on such technology as a way of reducing medical errors and improving overall patient safety. This new emphasis is pushing all hospitals towards more innovative approaches to patient care. Since patient care is largely based on the transfer of information from person to person, the most significant applications of computer technology have involved enhancing the gathering, storage and dissemination of clinical information. Deborah’s Meditech software system is typical of the kind of robust, modular information systems that run most of the clinical applications transforming healthcare delivery today. The Meditech software system operates on about 20 servers and a state-of-the-art network system built on a gigabit fiber optic backbone with numerous additional wireless access points strategically placed throughout the Center, making virtually all patient care areas, physician offices and other work spaces fully accessible. |
A modular architecture allows healthcare facilities and group practices of varying sizes to customize software packages like Meditech to meet their specific needs. Some facilities may only take advantage of the practice management capabilities of the software to collect patient information, capture charges and send out bills, as well as provide payroll and other back office functions. Deborah, however, relies on Meditech to provide not only these basic functions, but also its Electronic Medical Record (EMR). The EMR module has been operational for over four years and is a repository of vast amounts of patient information. According to Gerard Williams, Director of Information Systems, “Our EMR is accessible from hundreds of desktop computers in the Center and provides doctors, nurses and other authorized personnel instant access to laboratory results, admissions data, discharge summaries, clinic notes, and complete reports from Radiology, Pathology, Echocardiography, Catheterization and Surgery.” And, thanks to the new wireless access points throughout the Center, it is now possible to get up-to-the-minute information right at the patient’s bedside using laptop computers. Electronic patient data is closely monitored. Not only are names and passwords required to gain access, all activity while inside the EMR is tracked constantly with only authorized information being available to the user. This high level of security assures that the system will stand up to the required standards of the upcoming Health Insurance Portability and Account-ability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Information from the EMR is only one part of the benefits of a hospital-wide information and practice management system. Another benefit of information systems is reduction of medical errors. By delivering current reference information on medications and health conditions right on the desktops and laptop computers, information systems provides bedside decision support to doctors, nurses and other care providers that can potentially help avoid inappropriate or contraindicated treatments. Meditech also allows information to be shared with referring physicians. Most laboratory test results generated at Deborah can now be sent via automated fax directly to the office of the physician who ordered the test. Recently, high volume referring physicians have also been able to look at other reports on their own patients through a secure Internet gateway. This form of communication is very important in maintaining continuity of care from the inpatient services at the Center to the outpatient private doctor’s office. |
