BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - Electronic Health Records (EHR) are quickly becoming the trend among hospitals and medical practices. EHR include key patient information including: progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports. EHR have many benefits mostly centered on the elimination of the paper chart.

Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights realized the need for the new system before transitioning from their 60,000 square foot medical practice in Summit to their present 250,000 square foot home in Berkeley Heights in 2006. Summit Medical Group is one of the largest medical practices in the area to be using EHR.

"It became clear to us with the growing size of our practice that we could not rely on a traditional paper chart. One of our strengths has always been that there is one chart that follows patients so all doctors know their patients full medical history," stated Dr. Robert Rosenbaum, an endocrinologist and the physician chairman of EHR at Summit Medical Group.

Implementation

During the initial phases of EHR implementation, Summit Medical Group had a duplicate system with paper and electronic records before going strictly electronic in 2006. Paper-based patient medical records from approximately 2001 were scanned into the EHR system as well as additional important information such as hospitalizations and pertinent medical history. Currently, new patients’ paper-based charts are scanned and catalogued into the EHR system.

Every physician on staff at Summit Medical Group utilizes the EHR. Rosenbaum stated that most staff members embraced the implementation. "The majority of physicians understood that we needed this and they learned the system fairly quickly. I would say only a handful were nervous about the new system. However, I haven’t found a single doctor that would prefer to go back to hand-writing prescriptions."

The physicians and staff received hands-on training a week before going live. The training provided information on several of the electronic modules that the physicians and staff use in their practice including scheduling, lab results and e-prescriptions. Rosenbaum stated a combination of having a strong IT department at Summit Medical Group as well as user-friendly, intuitive software was the key to a successful implementation.

Touchworks, the EHR software, and all computers at Summit Medical Group are HIPAA compliant. "In the past, we could not communicate with patients through e-mail because Microsoft Outlook was not a secure system. All of our modules are HIPAA compliant which enables us to provide better quality care to our patients," said Dr. Rosenbaum. 

Approximately eight physicians from Summit Medical Group make up the EHR committee. These physicians act as EHR resources within their departments.

EHR Advantages

Due to the costs associated with converting to an electronic system, it is estimated that only 9% of all medical practices currently use an EHR system. "We look at it as an investment. While there are significant upfront costs associated with EHR including costs for hardware, software, tech support and licensing fees, we see it as a trade off. There are also significant savings because we no longer have costs to support paper charts and we no longer have to spend time getting charts ready before patient appointments or take the time to transport records to different offices," Rosenbaum stated. 

Eliminating the need for a paper chart has many advantages. EHR provides an efficient alternative to the traditional paper chart option. By digitizing the medical record, processes are streamlined and costs associated with physical overhead, such as paper and printers, are reduced. EHR helps make a patient’s health information readily available 24/7, reducing duplication of tests, and reducing delays in treatment.

Rosenbaum cited the many benefits of the EHR system, stressing the advantage of having a patient record that is available around the clock either at the office or remotely. "Let’s say someone gets injured. You can get access at one in the morning if you need to in order to see if they have already had a Tetanus shot. It greatly enhances access to information."

E-prescribing

One practice that is greatly benefiting both patients and physicians is electronically prescribing medication, or e-prescribing. "It is not uncommon for diabetes patients, for example, to need multiple prescriptions, sometimes upwards of seven or eight. In the old days, we would have to write them all by hand. We can now open an electronic file and see an up-to-date, accurate record of their prescriptions. Based on our patient’s needs, we can add, change or delete a prescription and it is virtually instantaneous," Rosenbaum said. 

Physicians can then print out prescriptions or electronically transfer them to a retail pharmacy or mail-order prescription drug company. Patients are also given a print out of their prescriptions, which can be beneficial if the patient goes out of town and needs to be seen by a different physician, Rosenbaum added.

Moving Forward

To expand EHR capabilities, Summit Medical Group is currently looking at enhancements for EHR templates used by physicians. Rosenbaum explained that these templates, in primary care offices for example, would automatically trigger checklists for preventative health maintenance based on a person’s age, sex, and risk factors.

In praising the EHR system, Rosembaum stated that there are always new things to look forward to on the horizon and reiterated, "I wouldn’t want to go back to the old paper and pen system."

Expanding Communication Capabilities

Introduced in April of 2009, "My Summit Medical Group" is a feature located on Summit Medical Group’s website that provides for easy communication between the patient and the provider. With this new service, registered users can utilize the following features: request medical appointments, request lab or test results, e-mail doctors, e-mail office staff and pay bills on-line. Users can subscribe to receive information on various health topics as well as updates from Summit Medical Group specialties. Users can also save any accessed page to a "library" on their page.

Summit Medical Group’s web site can be found at www.summitmedicalgroup.com  

Kerry Law can be reached at Njkerry@yahoo.com  Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/njkerry  Check out her podcast at http://njkerry.podbean.com, which has audio versions of many of the events she attends.