For everyone who dreads the long wait at the doctor's office, there is good news. New electronic patient records will shorten their visit to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital (MHMH) and local doctors' offices.
MHMH and local physicians are in the process of transferring patient medical records into an electronic database, hospital CEO Bryan Hehemann said.
As part of the health care bill passed by Congress in the spring, physicians must make patient medical records electronic. Hospitals received stimulus money from the federal government to transfer records and will be penalized if the switch is not made, Hehemann said.
Electronic records will help ensure speed and accuracy with medical treatments and insurance companies because physicians and insurance companies will no longer have to mail or fax patient records, Hehemann said.
Medical information shared among physicians will also eliminate false or inaccurate information because providers will be able to see complete patient history on one database, he said.
"With one database, no one has to worry about paper records going back and forth between providers," Hehemann said.
The hospital chose to use Computer Systems and Programs Inc. medical record computer software because it is compatible with small hospitals, he said.
MHMH is in the process of switching to the electronic records and will be fully switched by August, but the hospital will take several months to fully implement the equipment because the process is complicated, Hehemann said.
"Eventually the idea is to reduce paper records almost entirely," Hehemann said.
Physicians in private practice are also transferring to electronic records, according to Kami Park, a primary care physician at Oxford Internal Medicine.
The electronic records allow doctors to access patient history, drug allergies, labs and X-rays even if the physician is away from the hospital, Park said.
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"The more information you have about a patient, the better care you can give them," Park said.
Some information cannot be automatically entered into the system and must be scanned manually, leading to frustrating delays, Park said. However, electronic records will still be more accessible than paper records.
Sophomore Brianne Reedy said electronic records will be helpful to patients who see multiple doctors.
"Treatment will be more accurate if someone has multiple issues where they see multiple doctors," Reedy said. "Doctors can collaborate to treat patients."
Reedy also said electronic records may have a risky downside. If the computer system were to crash, doctors would be unable to access patient information, she said.
Like Hehemann and Park, Reedy said she believes the benefits of the electronic software far outweigh any disadvantages of the software.
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