Genesis Electronic Medical Records
21st Century Health Care at St.
Joseph Mercy Oakland
Most industries that depend on data, such as banking, embraced digital
technology a long time ago. Health care, though, is still stuck in a desert
of manila folders, paper prescription pads and patient charts in plastic
binders.
Less than 20 percent of the nation’s hospitals use any kind of electronic medical records. Most hospitals do not provide physicians with the ability to place medical orders via computer, even though such ordering speeds up the delivery of care to the patient and increases safety. Medical staff manually detect possible drug interactions and allergies, not computers. Medical billers write out invoice numbers and visually match account codes.
“Health care is all about information, and yet we manage it the same way we did 150 years ago,” says Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of the National Quality Forum in Washington, D.C., in an article by Newsweek. Dr. Kizer is a member of the Board of Directors of Trinity Health, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland’s (SJMO) parent company, and former undersecretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Technology Leaders
In a world where everything seems to
be wired except for health care, there is an exception: SJMO. SJMO and
Trinity Health are leaders in using technology to enhance health care.
SJMO will implement in the coming year a system, called Genesis, that will
revolutionize the way we deliver health care. In the end, the most important
benefits of these cutting-edge technologies are increased patient safety
and quality of care.
Increased Patient Safety
A 1999 Institute of Medicine
study found that each year, 44,000 patients ie in U.S. hospitals due
to medical errors. The causes in-clude illegible writing or forgotten
allergies to drugs. Computerized systems, such as the one currently being
implemented at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, keep the notes legible and standard.
They also alert medical staff to aller-gies and possible drug interactions.
New Processes
M. Narendra Kini,
M.D., M.S.H.A., executive vice president of clinical and physician
services of Trinity Health, says that for staff, SJMO’s new system “will
change the way [they] practice completely and care for patients. It will
also bring a significant change in outcomes.”
Following are some of the changes:
- Doctors will read lab results and make prompt, informed decisions because all of the patient’s information will be readily available at their fingertips.
- There will be no wait-ing for the paper report to catch up to the patient chart.
- Patients can begin receiving medication and treatments sooner, leading to better outcomes and shorter hospital stays.
- Nurses will have more time to be involved in direct patient care. (Currently, about 30 percent of the total number of steps a nurse takes in a day are paperwork-related.)
Dollars Saved
Everyone is complaining
about the rising costs of health care. “Forty percent of health care costs are related
to the paper stream—that’s 40 cents on the dollar,” Dr.
Kini says. “For financial reasons, the new medical record cannot be
paper. It must be electronic.” SJMO’s new systems will eliminate
most of the paper and the inefficient processes that come with it.
The future of health care is at SJMO.
More Information
We’re implementing a state-of-the-art computer system known as Genesis, which uses an electronic medical record system that supports more effective and efficient care.
As a patient, you’ll notice many benefits of this new system, including:
• Your new medical record is electronic, reducing the time spent waiting for paper charts to be updated and shared between departments.
• Your care is documented in the computer, meaning the most up-to-date information on your condition is available to your care providers at all times.
• Your physician can focus on your questions, concerns and care when he/she is with you.
• Should you ever require another stay or visit, your information is immediately accessible to your care providers.
As a fun way to get staff excited about Genesis, we’re using a golf theme. So, if you happen to hear your doctor talking about “getting on the green” or see posters proclaiming that we’re on the “back nine,” we’re not playing games— we’re leading in patient care and safety in southeast Michigan.