Doctors moving toward paperless practices

Doctors moving toward paperless practices
George Morgan wasn't surprised to see his ophthalmologist typing medical notes into a computer in the eye exam room rather than writing them on a paper chart. After all, Morgan's son, a plumber, travels with a computer in his work van.

It didn't even faze the Richmond resident that his eye exam took longer than usual as the doctor wrestled with software snags.

'It is all new to him,' Morgan said.

When Dr. David Weissgold opened his solo, specialty eye practice in Burlington in October, he chose to go totally electronic. His Retina Center of Vermont on St. Paul Street lacks the usual floor-to-ceiling shelves lined with patients' medical charts. Instead, Weissgold and his staff create and store patients' medical records in a computer database. "

Donating Health Information to Technology Physicians

Donating Health Information to Technology PhysiciansIn his January 20, 2004, State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush announced his plan to ensure that most Americans have electronic health records within 10 years: "By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care." The White House?s website states that the President?s Health Information Technology Plan will address long-standing problems of preventable errors, uneven quality and rising costs in the nation?s health care system. The President?s plan includes adopting health information standards, increasing funding for health information technology demonstration projects, using the federal government?s clout as one of the largest purchasers of health care in the world to create incentives for health care providers to adopt health information technology, and creating a subcabinet level position to provide the national leadership and coordination to achieve the President?s goals. HIT includes electronic medical records, computerized prescribing and ordering of diagnostic tests, clinical decision support tools, and the technology necessary to assure the secure exchange of electronic health information.">McDermott Will & Emery - United States - Donating Health Information to Technology Physicians (22/11/2005) from Mondaq: "In his January 20, 2004, State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush announced his plan to ensure that most Americans have electronic health records within 10 years: 'By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care.' The White House?s website states that the President?s Health Information Technology Plan will address long-standing problems of preventable errors, uneven quality and rising costs in the nation?s health care system. The President?s plan includes adopting health information standards, increasing funding for health information technology demonstration projects, using the federal government?s clout as one of the largest purchasers of health care in the world to create incentives for health care providers to adopt health information technology, and creating a subcabinet level position to provide the national leadership and coordination to achieve the President?s goals. HIT includes electronic medical records, computerized prescribing and ordering of diagnostic tests, clinical decision support tools, and the technology necessary to assure the secure exchange of electronic health information."

Doctors scrap paper records for speed and to cut costs

Doctors scrap paper records for speed and to cut costs: "Dr. Donald McIntire's office has a perfect decor for a pediatrician, with dozens of Donald Duck figures perched near his desk. What you won't find are stacks of patient records, or even a desktop computer.
McIntire has gone wireless and paperless.
Gone are hand-written prescriptions and color-coded folders holding paper records. Instead, his practice is outfitted with new computer gear and specialized software for entering, accessing, securing and storing patient information."

Doctors wary of going online

Doctors wary of going online: "Dr. Joe Boorany runs a typical doctor's office. Patient files are collected in folders and stored in cabinets. Referrals and lab results are relayed mostly by fax machine, while lab images and hospital reports are most often received through mail and courier.
Like an estimated 98 per cent of doctors' offices in Ontario, paper remains king and electronic health records rarely emerge as a topic of conversation. 'To my knowledge they're not widely used,' says Boorany, who has been a general physician for 25 years and is associated with Humber River Regional Hospital. 'I haven't heard anybody talk about it.'"

It's Not About the Record

It's Not About the Record: "As a follow up to Jane Sarasohn-Kahn's recent commentary, 'Really Personal PHRs,' I would like to offer reinforcement of her opinion that health IT advocates need to do a better job of making personal health records relevant to consumers' needs. Like Sarasohn-Kahn, I also attended the 'Connecting Americans to Their Health Care: Empowered Consumers, Personal Health Records and Emerging Technologies' conference last month in Washington, D.C. I came away both hopeful and frustrated. "

Regional database would help doctors exchange patient info

Lansing State Journal: Regional database would help doctors exchange patient info

Dr. Brian McCardel sometimes has to leave patients waiting in exam rooms while he tracks down test results by fax machine.

He worries patients might not recall the medications they are taking and that those drugs may not mix with what he prescribes.

But McCardel - and all of Ingham County's 1,200 physicians - could one day have access to more decision-making details with a few keystrokes."

Local health leaders are launching an electronic system for exchanging patient data throughout the region.

Electronic records seen as key to better care

Electronic records seen as key to better care: "Could modern technology bring an end to centuries of patients and pharmacists puzzling out a doctor's hurried scrawl?
Enabling doctors to enter prescriptions into an integrated computer system makes prescriptions legible. It also makes possible an electronic record of medications that can follow patients as they travel between primary care doctors, specialists, clinics, pharmacies and hospitals"

Bar codes break into medical field

Bar codes break into medical field : "William George Herd, currently a patient at Lee's Summit Hospital, knows the effects of medication errors.
"God knows I've suffered, and I don't need that again," he said, remembering how he was given the wrong medication 20 years ago.
Now, thanks to the Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) bar coding system, he doesn't worry about it happening again.
Upon admission, patients receive a bar-coded wristband which nurses or respiratory therapists scan whenever medication is administered. The bar code corresponds to the patient's current drug history as well as allergies and side effects to other prescribed drugs. A patient's medical history is also entered into the hospital's computer system. "