Seminar Provides Information on the Use of Electronic Health Records in Ohio

More than 230 physicians and health care professionals including representatives from the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (AMCNO) learned about the innovative use of electronic health records (known as EHRs) at an all-day conference Oct. 25 at The Ohio State University sponsored by the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP). The progressive push is on to improve Ohio’s health care system so doctors, hospitals, health care facilities and pharmacies can electronically and securely share patient information, which should improve both the quality and the continuity of health care for Ohioans.

“This is the wave of the future – it is here,” said Thomas Tsang, M.D., M.P.H., a public health expert from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the Department of Health & Human Services in Washington, D.C. “This is our chance to think about what we’re doing for the health of our nation. It’s also allowing and empowering you to take control of community care. What’s the best system Ohio can create?” he asked the crowd during his keynote address.

Dr. Tsang said the federal Health Information Technology Committee’s priorities are to:

• Improve quality, safety, efficiency and reduce health disparities
• Engage patients and families in their health care
• Improve care coordination
• Improve population and public health
• Ensure adequate privacy and security protections for personal health information

While some doctors and hospitals already have their own electronic health records, they don’t “talk to one another,” Dr. Tsang explained. Nationally, standards and certification rules now developed could potentially allow an emergency room physician in California to share records with a doctor in Ohio, he said.

He stressed the benefits for physicians and patients:

• Accurate and complete information about a patient's health. That way, physicians can give the best possible care, whether during a routine visit or a medical emergency.
• The ability to better coordinate the care they give. This is especially important if a patient has a serious medical condition.
• A way to securely share information with patients and their family caregivers. This means patients and their families can more fully take part in decisions about their health care.
• Information to help doctors diagnose health problems sooner, reduce medical errors and provide safer care at lower costs.

Recent findings from the 2009 National Healthcare Quality Report show that internationally, the U.S. is rated 26th in infant mortality and 37th in overall health care, yet the nation is No. 1 in total expenditures. "We need to reduce inefficiencies while improving quality, and HIT can help facilitate that," Tsang said.

Ohio has received funding to provide 6,000 primary care physicians and health care professionals with assistance in implementing or upgrading their health information systems. Plus, doctors can qualify for financial incentives through Medicare and Medicaid. Seven regional extension centers throughout the state are currently signing up primary care providers who would like assistance in implementing electronic health records under the guidance of OHIP. 

The AMCNO has physician and staff representation on OHIP committees and we are integrally involved with these discussions at the state level as well as at the regional level. OHIP is a nonprofit, state-designated entity responsible for establishing regional extension centers to assist physicians and hospitals with information technology and for creating the infrastructure for a health information exchange in the state. To find out more about OHIP and regional extension centers, go to: www.ohiponline.org.  To directly view workshop presentations, go to: http://ohiponline.org/Pages/EducationalEventHandouts.aspx