RANAC Corporation
4181 East 96th Street, Suite 280
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317-844-0141 or 800-844-0141
Copyright © 2004 RANAC All Rights Reserved.
Web Design by Matt Wilson Designs
| Back | |
|
Paperless medical records Anne Marie Tiernon/Health Reporter Indianapolis, Sept. 22, 2005 - "Up the crick without a paddle." That's where 73-year-old John Cecil says he'd be without his extensive medical records. "I don't know what is going on with me. I cannot remember all these dates or all the things. I don't remember all my surgeries," or his medications. That's crucial information in a crisis and key data on paper records unavailable to doctors after a hurricane or even weeks later to those providing shelter to evacuees, like out at the Indiana fairgrounds. It's a problem eliminated, some say, by going electronic. "We ultimately want to make that doctor's office completely paperless." RANAC President Keith Pitzele says the transitions take time, especially in Indiana's smaller practices of ten doctors or less where less than five percent are using electric medical records. Primary Care Doctor David Blackwell and his partner are the exception, paperless since May. "You've got backup so if there is a disaster you can access them from a different spot, and so if a building goes down, you've go the records." Do patients ever want to log in and look at their own charts? Dr. Julie Daftari says, "They do, they do that very frequently." John's prescriptions are sent right to his pharmacy, ready for pick up. His records are transferred to his cardiologist, eye surgeon and even maintained as a history for his children. "I'm trusting them to have all this information at my fingertips when I need it." Privacy is a concern. RANAC says passwords and firewalls provide security and any access to an electronic medical record is recorded; date, time and password; arguing that with paper anyone could pull or copy a chart and no one would know. As far as a nationwide network, there are issues with formatting and compatibility. The industry now is actively working on standards to make documents and transfers seamless. |
| Back | |
|
Medical profession will suffer from more cutbacks Indianapolis, December 9, 2006 - IndyStar.com Opinion Letters to the editor Never before has the medical profession faced such traumatic conditions as those being created by declining Medicare reimbursements. Payments for medical care of Medicare recipients will decline by 34 percent during the next nine years if Congress does not withdraw its proposed plan. Meanwhile, physicians are being forced to provide increased non-reimbursable services, not to mention rapidly increasing premiums for malpractice insurance and higher salaries and benefits for their staff. When one considers these issues, along with a debt of minimally $150,000 for the cost of medical school, it is astonishing that the medical profession will be able to continue attracting newcomers to join its noble ranks. To drive the economics further, our nation will be experiencing the largest growth of Medicare patients ever as baby boomers become Medicare recipients. As forecasted, these factors will discourage young people from pursuing their interest in the medical profession, thus yielding fewer professionals to treat a growing Medicare population. Based upon the overwhelming economic factors that will impact our health-care system, I implore Congress to withdraw the proposed plan to reduce Medicare reimbursements as currently proposed. Note: Congress did withdraw the proposed reduction in 2007 Medicare reimbursements. |
| Back | |
|
Paperless Remedy Concerned about privacy, efficiency, and errors, hospitals and doctors across the area are following software solutions to their recordkeeping problems By Daniel Lee, Indianapolis Star Reporter Indianapolis, Nov. 6, 2005 - Dr. Donald McIntire's office has perfect decor for a pediatrician 1 with dozens of Donald Duck figures perched near his desk. But what you won't find are stacks of patient records, or even a desktop computer. He 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. McIntire plunged into the nascent world of electronic medical records about a year ago when he moved his two-physician practice into the new Clarian West Medical Center in Avon. The goal was to create easy to access yet secure computerized files containing each patient's medical history, prescriptions, insurance coverage and other Information. McIntire's technology upgrade is part of a sweeping, if slow-moving, drive across the health-care industry to automate and streamline patient records and medical information. For patients, electronic medical records can reduce medical errors and mix-ups by eliminating. Hand-written requests, and give nurses and doctors ready access to proven protocols for treating patients, experts say. Hospitals and physician practices around the region are building up on new technology. Riverview hospital in Hamilton County is adding software to track patient records and provide care givers with instant information on how best to treat patients. New facilities, including the soon-to-open Clarian North Medical Center in Carmel, are outfitted with cutting-edge technology such as Internet phone service. This is a tough adjustment for some doctors trained in a pen-and-paper world. "I hate computers," confessed McIntire, 42. "I'm all thumbs when it comes to them." But he said his decision to adept was vital to providing quality care end remaining competitive. Using electronic medical records, a doctor or nurse can look up a lab result while a patient waits on the phone, or electronically send a new drug order to a pharmacy. McIntire, for example, simply takes his notebook-sized portable computer with him into the exam room to access patient information, type in notes or order prescriptions. For McIntire, the technology upgrade cost $70,000 and required multiple days of staff training. And the office already has endured one mayor computer outage this year that meant returning to paper for a few days. But no data was permanently lost thanks to a backup system that stores information electronically in four places. McIntire said cost savings are adding up. He was able to eliminate three full-time positions that had been needed to keep up with paperwork. His system, installed by systems integrator Ranac Corp. of Indianapolis, includes software to set up patient records, scan in older paper files, and track lab results and finances. Changes apparent For now, some parents at McIntire's office are noticing a difference. "It seems to be a little faster," said Bob Einstein, Indianapolis, who recently took his 7-year-old son, Daniel, for a checkup. "The information is right there." Much of the health-care industry, though, remains a bastion of bureaucracy, a system built on documentation of every procedure, prescription and claim. "Getting doctors to quit scribbling prescriptions on pads of papers is one of the slowest things on the planet," said Sam Wilson, a technology analyst for San Francisco investment firm JMP Securities. "They're just really slow to adopt new things." Switching from paper to computerized medical records is a complex and expensive move for hospitals, with major technology upgrades costing millions. Also, many doctors fear the sorts of massive security breaches that have compromised banks or universities where hackers or thieves have accessed personal Information such as Social Security numbers for thousands of consumers. Accuracy uppermost Those fears, along with other considerations, have given many in health care pause in deciding whether to embrace a new record system "It has to be accurate. The doctor has to verify the information as it is imputed," said Daniel Evans, chief executive of Clarian Health Partners. "The bad thing about computers, once there's a bad piece of data in there, it's hard to get out." But Evans sees potential, citing Domino's Pizza as an example of how automated records can streamline operations. Call the pizzeria, Evans said, and a computer file quickly tells the employee the person's past orders: '12-inch sausage and pepperoni. See you in 20 minutes." Clarian is trying to bring that sort of efficiency to medicine. For example, Evans said that in the Clarian North Medical Center, a bar-code system will be used to help make sure the right patient is given the correct medication. Bar codes placed on nurses' badges, patients' bracelets and drug packaging all will be tied to an electronic medical record. 'We're hoping that will reduce error to zero," he said. Clarian also is in the midst of upgrades at its three Downtown hospitals. At Riley and Indiana University hospitals, by the middle of next year caregivers will begin to use wireless devices to electronically record patient information and vital signs, according to Rich Johnson, Clarian's chief information officer. A similar effort is planned for Methodist Hospital for 2007. Elsewhere, Riverview Hospital in Noblesville plans in June to begin phasing in a $4 million software system for recording patient information and providing caregivers with protocols for treating patients. An emergency-room worker, for example, could pull up a file giving precise guidelines for treating a heart attack victim, said Randy Cox, Riverview's chief Information officer. 'That's why you spend big bucks on a complex system," he said. McIntire, the Avon pediatrician, is glad he made the paper-less plunge. "This is the next generation," he said. "You just have to keep up because, if not, you're going to be so far behind that your choice is to quit or really be behind the eight ball." |