Electronic Medical Records

Electronic Medical Records Feature Story

When Consistency Counts

Written by Valerio Carpi

Now that medication reconciliation has become a mandate, healthcare organizations are looking for effective ways to implement it, and for some, the answer is information technology.

According to a recent Institute of Medicine report, four out of five U.S. adults take at least one medication prescription, over-the-counter drug, vitamin/mineral or herbal supplement each week, while nearly a third take at least five different medications. In the hospital, a multiplicity of clinicians and changing care settings exacerbates these numbers. In a study conducted at Mayo Health System in Wisconsin, an estimated 5 percent of hospitalized patients experienced medication errors, 60 percent of which occurred during transitions of care. In a study conducted by Partners Healthcare, half of the patients admitted to a general internal medicine unit had at least one unintended discrepancy, and almost 40 percent of the discrepancies had the potential to cause moderate to severe discomfort or clinical deterioration.

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The Winding Road to EMR Adoption

Written by David Fairbrook, M.D

A Washington physician explains why he made the transition to EMRs at the end of his career.

As a physician at the end of my professional career, an electronic medical record (EMR) program became a matter of responsibility rather than choice for the future. Having worked in both large and small practices, I understand that we as physicians have a responsibility to grow in our understanding of EMRs while vendors have a responsibility to provide solutions that work for small practices as well as large healthcare enterprises.

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EHR Bliss

Written by James Selenke, M.D.

A small family practice reaps the benefits of a Web-based EHR.

It has been three years since President Bush introduced his health information technology initiative mandating that all healthcare providers and institutions implement an electronic health record solution (EHR) within one decade. So far, EHR implementation has been slow for one- and two-physician practices, which account for more than half of all practices in the United States. Rural practices, in particular, face more challenges in transitioning from paper records to a high-tech solution.

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Winning the Battle for Standardization

Written by Robert P. Durkee

The U.S. Army Medical Department examines the EMR to develop a standardized process for medication reconciliation documentation.

Throughout its rich and prestigious 232-year history of service to soldiers, veterans, retirees and their families, the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) has employed cutting-edge technology complemented by solid strategic planning to provide high quality healthcare. Compliance with patient safety regulations and initiatives designed to reduce adverse events and errors also have been instrumental to AMEDD's achievements—and its approach to medication reconciliation is no different.

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Channeling the Data Stream

Written by Michael Brooks

How analytics can radically improve clinical performance.

Back in the old days, the treatment of cancer was based on a simple premise: If patients could survive the treatment, perhaps they would survive the disease. As a result, many care regimens were based on flooding the entire body with enough poisons to stunt the growth of tumors without irrevocably harming the person being treated. Today, advances in medical technology have made it possible for doctors to deliver highly targeted treatments to specific cells that are not only more effective at stopping the disease, but also allow patients to suffer far fewer side effects.

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Electronic Medical Records