Physicians Convene to Learn About EHRs in Primary Practice

As part of our ongoing effort to educate our members on meaningful use and the implementation of electronic health records, the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (AMCNO) was pleased to participate in an event entitled “EHR: A Practice Survival Strategy: Bringing Joy Back to Primary Care”. The AMCNO co-sponsored this informative event with Better Health Greater Cleveland (BHGC) and the Case Western Reserve University Regional Extension Center (Case REC). Presenters at the event included Dr. Laura J. David, AMCNO president, Dr. Randall Cebul from BHGC, Ms. Cathy Costello from the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP), and Mr. Joe Peter from the Case REC. The keynote speaker for the evening was Dr. Richard Baron, representing Greenhouse Internists. The event was funded through BHGC by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.

Dr. David began the evening by welcoming the attendees and providing background on the AMCNO involvement in the physician community and by outlining the role of the AMCNO with regard to meaningful use and electronic health record initiatives. She noted that the AMCNO works on behalf of physicians across the Northern Ohio region and encouraged participants to join the organization. Dr. David also thanked both the Case REC and BHGC for collaborating with the AMCNO on the event and with projects in the Northern Ohio community that are of importance to physicians.

The keynote speaker for the evening, Dr. Richard Baron outlined how the old problem many physicians are trying to solve with an EHR is the appropriate generation of a progress note -- a document used to justify payment in a fee-for-service system. Physicians unfamiliar with EHRs tend to think of them as an electronic version of paper charts; however, what physicians really need to be thinking about is structured data – the foundation for decision support, data exchange and reporting. Because patients do not usually provide their histories in a structured data format, EHR users have to translate what they hear or read into a format the system can use. Once a practice has structured data it can automate and support repetitive tasks such as prescription refills, enhance decision support aided by a team approach, track and trend patient care, identify and address care gaps, generate ongoing performance reports and conduct population management. More information on this session will be included in the next issue of the Northern Ohio Physician magazine.