Medical records making transition to touch screens
Photo
An employee at the new Dean St Mary Hospital facility on Janesville's east side, familiarizes herself with the Dean Clinic's new electronic check-in machines.
JANESVILLE — Patients arriving at the new Dean Clinic-Janesville East next month will check in using touch screens.
No more clipboards and paper forms.
The attached St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital will be nearly paperless.
At Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center across town, staff is more than six months into an electronic records system that allows seamless access to clinic and hospital records.
Electronic medical records have changed life in clinics and hospitals, and local providers are increasingly connected to share a patient’s medical history.
All three provider systems use the Verona-based Epic health care software system, which allows records to easily be shared.
Local providers answered questions about how electronic records work:
Q. How has new technology—as it relates to records—been incorporated into the new health care facilities in Janesville?
A. Through new construction and remodeling, Dean, St. Mary’s and Mercy designed plans to include computers in all patient rooms, either through stations built into the rooms or computers on carts, along with more access outside rooms.
“It’s definitely been part of what we’ve considered as we’re redesigning the patient care spaces,” said Ruth Yarbrough, Mercy vice president.
At Dean Clinic-Janesville East, patients can check themselves in using a dozen touch screens and entering a credit card, which reads their demographic information.
Patients then are asked additional questions to verify their identity, said Annette Fox, director of clinical systems for Wisconsin Integrated Information Technology & Telemedicine Systems, a partnership between Dean and SSM Wisconsin.
Nurses, lab technicians and other St. Mary’s staff will carry special cell phones in the hospital that include an Epic messaging system.
Q. How will records work between St. Mary’s and Dean?
A. Both facilities use the Epic system, and a patient’s records will be one in the same between the clinic and hospital, Fox said.
“We don’t want to have the patient have one record in the clinic and another one in the hospital,” she said.
The same is true for other Dean and St. Mary’s locations and affiliated hospitals such as Baraboo or Madison, she said.
“If you end up at any of those places, your information is there,” she said.
Q. How are records accessed between hospitals in different health systems?
A. One part of the Epic system is Care Everywhere, which allows health care providers on the Epic system to share records with consent from patients.
If a patient shows up for the first time at St. Mary’s emergency room, staff will be able to electronically access the patient’s Mercy records with the patient’s consent, Fox said.
The records are managed through secure access, and the patient has to be physically in the facility for a doctor to get records from a different provider, Fox said.
“It’s not like I could just go out and look for any record I want,” she said.
St. Mary’s in Madison collaborated with other Madison hospitals and providers in March 2010 to begin electronically sharing records.
“It’s been amazing,” Fox said. “One, just the quickness.”
What took hours before now can be done in minutes, allowing care to start faster, she said.
Providers also found tests that didn’t need to be ordered because they saw in the patients’ records that the tests had been done elsewhere, she said.
Q. How does MyChart work?
A. Dean, St. Mary’s and Mercy all use an online Epic module called MyChart, which allows patients to schedule and view appointments, pay bills, request prescription refills, send secure messages to physicians and view their medical records.
Patients in the Dean/St. Mary’s system will have access to both their clinic and hospital records on their MyChart, Fox said. The software doesn’t have a lot of hospital features, yet, but it will include emergency room discharge instructions and lab test results, she said.
Q. Electronic medical records have been around for years, but how has it changed patient care?
A. Gone are doctors’ scribbled, handwritten prescription notes, which now are ordered electronically. That eliminates the possibility of transcription errors, Yarbrough said.
When a patient shows up for an appointment, the doctor already has information such as allergies and medications in the Epic system, Fox said.
More documentation tools are available for doctors, who can then use the aggregated data to engage patients more, she said.
A doctor treating a patient for high blood pressure could, for example, turn the computer screen to the patient to discuss a graphic that shows how the treatment is working, she said.
“It’s a great learning tool for the patient,” she said.
Q. How do I get a copy of my medical records?
A. Make a request at the medical records desk at your provider. Records typically can be released on paper or on a CD.
Jan 12, 2012 at 9:35 a.m.
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First off, I work in healthcare and I am sick of computers taking jobs. We lose patient relations when we use the kiosks. I feel we have enough technology ruining our social being.
Second, There are germs everywhere! Door handles, magazines, toys, elevator buttons, handrails and grocery carts to name a few. In my office I make sure to sanitize all areas multiple times a day. I bet you can not say that for a non health related office or place of work. Think about it your co-worker comes in sick spreads their germs and leaves early to come to the clinic. When is the last time you saw some one sanitize every arm rest, counter, door handle or even your break room. I used to work in a factory and I saw the black water that would scrub our floors or the rag that hung over the garbage can to clean the counters.
The argument should be with how our state needs to retain jobs not replace them with computers and how wages need to be raised. Corporations need to realize productivity is better when there is perks to the job. (raises, bonuses, good health care without the insane deductibles and co-pays)
Dec 18, 2011 at 10:01 p.m.
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Yeah but Milton alum, hate to break it to you, those chairs you sit in in the waiting area and the counters you lean on are NOT sanitized all the time.... germs are what keep a person's immune system active for when it has BIGGER bugs to kill.... You could just stay home and use that virtuwell.com to "see" a dr to avoid all of the germs in general. Let me know how that works out for ya! HA!
Dec 11, 2011 at 11:45 a.m.
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Actually Sarah, they are...at least in the hospitals i work in it is required that each clipboard and pen is sani-wiped before each use.
Dec 6, 2011 at 3:14 p.m.
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I see now that there are some translucent barriers in-between the kiosks, but I still don't want them to have my credit card information or to touch screens that a bunch of other people have touched. That's one of the reasons I hate the self-checkouts at Woodman's (among others).
Dec 6, 2011 at 2:08 p.m.
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I don't like the looks of these kiosks...all this about HIPAA and privacy, and they are not private at all. People can look over your shoulder from behind or from the side. I don't want to provide them my credit card information, and I don't want to touch a screen that hundreds or thousands of sick people have touched. Sheesh.
Dec 6, 2011 at 1:40 p.m.
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This back and forth between Dean and Mercy having this technology or that, or this clinic being for profit or not, or them spending how much money to upgrade facilities and features is completely irrelevant in my book. I don't care HOW nice or dingy your building is as long as I'm getting the best care I can. I'm not living there, I'm being treated there. And speaking from experience over the course of two decades of care, Dean and ALL of their clinics/hospitals I've visted in Janesville and Madison, is hands DOWN the BEST patient care staff of any medical provider in the area. They train their people to be compassionate and caring while Mercy it seems has spent more time going "by the books", ignoring how that makes the patients FEEL. I will never step foot into another Mercy facility if I do not have to. I will support Dean and it's for-profit facilities for any and all services I and my family need. And for the record, I am in no way related to nor have I ever been a part of the Dean or Mercy in terms of employment or anything of the such(nor has my family). I am simply the consumer of the services and have used my experiences at each organization set my mind. And trust me, it only takes ONE bad reference to lose business. And Mr Bea should be shaking in his booties right now. You can put a pretty face on all of your buildings Mr Bea, but that doesn't do squat to your staff and policies. I'd take Dean and even their older clinics in Madison over your shotty service here in the new digs in Janesville. Truth be told!
Oh and p.s. - For those people so concerned about "germs" and such at all of these kiosks... You are gonna to complain about the touchscreens, but have NO problems touching the doorknobs, chairs in the waiting room, leaning on the germ infested counters checking as of now. Come on people! It's called HAND SANITIZER!!! It's available in abundance in almost ANY clinic/hospital and most places of business now a days. Plus you can buy these small purse or pocket size bottles for like $1 at any grocery or department store. Craziness i tell you!
Dec 6, 2011 at 12:57 p.m.
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I just hope they have a good way of keeping germs off those touch screens.
Dec 6, 2011 at 12:48 p.m.
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http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=idio...
Dec 6, 2011 at 9:53 a.m.
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SSM Health Care is also a non-profit.
http://www.ssmhc.com/internet/home/ssmco...
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Dean, however, is privately held (i.e. for-profit), owned by its partner physicians. SSM holds a 5% share.
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I am not sure why being non-profit or private affects whether a hospital needs to close if it isn't making enough money. Either way, the hospital needs to pay for itself.
Dec 6, 2011 at 7:51 a.m.
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Mercy has had electronic medical records for a while, just not in hospital rooms until May. Like any software, there are bugs that need to be fixed so it was released to the clinics first. It's not flawless, and it's eliminated jobs at Mercy AND Dean. I love how people think nothing bad happens at other hospitals, only Mercy. At least with Mercy being nonprofit, profits go back into the organization--that's why they are able to expand and make improvements to current buildings. St. Mary's is for profit, so they wouldn't think twice to close if they felt they weren't making enough money.
Dec 6, 2011 at 6:50 a.m.
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Refuse to use these kiosks! This is one more way computers are replacing our jobs!
Dec 6, 2011 at 6:50 a.m.
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the epic software that everyone is glowing over is very overrated, at least the prescription ordering portion.
As a pharmacist in town I have seen a 10 fold increase in prescriptions requiring clarification before being filled. This software has increased the chances of a prescribing error because the software is flawed, the users are not properly trained, and the office staff are incompetent.
There are numerous times when a rx comes over with two sets of directions, or an injection is ordered to be given by mouth, or an order is given for an antibiotic to be taken twice daily for 10 days with a quantity of 10, or once daily for 5 days quantity of 7.
This software is only as smart as the people using it.
Dec 5, 2011 at 9:11 p.m.
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Great, now they can spread pseudomonas both in the operating room and the check in process! Dean might be up their in technology, which is better for you so they can track and trend all of your infections and negative consequences without ever meeting you!
Dec 5, 2011 at 9:07 p.m.
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I've been a patient at Dean now for almost three years and can say without a doubt, if I were still in Mercy's care I would no longer be a patient, i would be a corpse! As for Dean being behind the times, when I left Mercy they still didn't use Epic although I was told they had plans to possibly get into that area in the next few years (that was in 2009) and when I became a patient with Riverview (Dean, St. Mary's)I received all my information on my first visit for setting up my MyChart account, it comes in handy for a lot of things, such as looking at my lab results when they become available, usually same day, were when I was with Mercy I had to call and wait and then call again, and wait more days and sometimes weeks to find out what was going on. So NO Dean is in no way behind Mercy when it comes to technology and as far as patient care goes, it's not even close there, hands down Riverview, Dean St Mary's is the only choice in my future when it comes to staying healthy and more importantly alive.....
Dec 5, 2011 at 7:40 p.m.
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Neat, so now all the sick people touch the same screen :)
Dec 5, 2011 at 6:26 p.m.
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The fans are out in force! Which team will make the playoffs this year, Dean or Mercy?
Dec 5, 2011 at 5:07 p.m.
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Mercy finally got electronic medical records in May of 2011. This is 3 years after Dean.
Dec 5, 2011 at 4:49 p.m.
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Dean is only about 5 years behind the curve, Mercy and other systems have been using computers in every room to eliminate paper for years and years.
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