Speeding Important Medical Info to Patients and Practices
Getting reports to doctor's offices paperlesslyInterest has burgeoned in moving more of the nation's medical records to electronic form, as government support has gotten behind this need, and as more providers—from major medical centers to small physician practices—invest time resources and focus on going paperless with patient information. Starting in 2007, Lourdes added another component to its efforts to support electronic medical records (EMRs) with the capability to push patient information out securely to computers of its affiliated medical practices.
Through partnering with solutions company Novo Innovations, Lourdes can now integrate the flow of patient-care information with the EMR system of participating medical practices. The new system permits Lourdes to directly export reports on tests and visits to a configured system in medical offices or arrange for drop-box, web-based access to the data at the practice—all while assuring security and confidentiality of the contents of these reports.
Needed Improvement in Info Exchange
The information available through the system includes laboratory results, radiology readings, and transcribed medical reports. The Novo/EMR initiative at Lourdes gives participating medical practices an opportunity to use more of the potential of their EMR system and to take advantage of speed of delivery in testing results.
Lourdes initiated the project by establishing the first dedicated integration of this clinical data with the EMR of a large medical practice in 2008. Lourdes makes the data available via a secure computer interface. The practice's EMR can automatically sort and import the information.
With the Novo/EMR system, Lourdes transmits patient results paperlessly and securely to an interface on the medical practice's computer system.
"Now that we have begun to interface directly into practice EMRs, we see what we already predicted—that the approach allows affiliated physicians and staff members to focus more time on patient care and less on faxes and other paper in their daily practice," says Denise Evans, Assistant Director of Services at Lourdes.
Novo Innovations takes advantage of a special computer network to securely distribute and synchronize information between hospitals and participating physician-office EMRs. Software installed on hospital computers analyzes various types of data, encrypts it and sends it over the connection grid and on to the practice EMR of the ordering or "copy to" physician. The Novo software running on the practice's computer automatically integrates the lab, pathology and radiology reports, along with discharge summaries, operative notes and other transcriptions.
New Drop-Box for Easier Access
With the capability established through the initial pilot effort, Lourdes has now added a second option for practices not yet ready or able to connect via an office EMR. These practices may have done limited conversion to electronic records but want to receive hospital patient information paperlessly.
To achieve connectivity for such practices, Lourdes' partner, Novo Innovations, can remotely set up a client port for the practice. Using a "dropbox" tool, which is easily downloaded and installed on office computers, the practice physicians and office staff can access the same information as available through the fully integrated system, but in this case via a secure web interface.
The practice can select the type of information it wants to access, as can individual doctors or other caregivers at the office. Thus, users can set parameters to filter in, or out, the specific information they want to see. The practice can chose to print the patient information to store in hard-copy medical records or, in some cases, import it into or integrate it with existing electronic patient files.
"With this addition to the Novo/EMR effort, we're continuing to deliver hospital results in the way that practices," says Evans. "A number of practices, including smaller ones, are now electing to set up a connection and simply use the drop-box option, which ties safely into a web-based portal."
Faster, More-Efficient Care
The Novo technology reduces staff effort and material waste, as it reduces the need for callbacks and speeds clinical decision-making and follow-up. In addition, it provides reliable document delivery, improved privacy and security and a complete audit trail.
"Lourdes is pursuing this integration technology as a service to our medical staff physicians—and to our patients. We know that it's a significant investment for a physician practice to implement an electronic medical record system. We want to foster adoption of this powerful technology by helping practices realize value from their investment as quickly as possible," said Maureen Hetu, Lourdes Health System Chief Information Officer. "Eliminating the material and labor costs of manually printing and scanning hospital results into an EMR system is one way we can do that."
This electronic, hospital-to-practice tie-in for patient reports improves continuity of care for the patient by making for a faster turnaround time, permitting them to be in touch with their doctor's office for results more quickly. It also reduces labor costs. Physician staffs no longer have to sift through faxed or mailed, hard-copy results. And importantly, the system meets all HIPAA requirements for security and privacy.
"This modernization step is useful for the doctors and nurses and other clinical caregivers but also very useful for the office administrative staff," notes Evans. "Interest has risen in its use, especially with the addition of our drop-box option, as the movement to EMR in general gathers speed."
For more information, or if your practice is interested in taking advantage of Lourdes' Novo/EMR system, contact Denise Evans, Assistant Director, Information Services, at evansd@lourdesnet.org, or through the Physician Support Pager at 856-382-1741. Medical providers not affiliated with Lourdes who wish to join the staff of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center or Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, call 856-757-3513.
