Committed to Learning - Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine ...

Benefactor Spring 2008MMarshall leads the way in West Virginia inintroducing electronic health recordsWith the incredible explosion oftechnological advances in medicalcare in recent decades, a weak linkin the chain of medical care became increasinglyapparent: doctors’ centuries-old reliance on paperpatient records.Over the past 3 years, doctors and othermedical staff at Marshall’s medical school havebeen engaged in a quiet technological revolution,implementing electronic health records thatmake patient care safer, more comprehensive andmore efficient.After 2 years of research and preparation,Marshall doctors, during the fall of 2007, began“going live” with electronic records, one or twodepartments at a time. As of the end of January,we had nearly 100 medical practitioners and 100resident physicians using the electronic records;by July 2008 the remaining 150 or so physicianswill be fully on board, making Marshall’sphysician group the largest in West Virginia tohave a virtually paperless patient record andelectronic prescribing system in place.The undertaking was immense. Assuring thesecurity of records, for example, was an absoluterequirement. We’re pleased to say our patients’records are protected by security measuresstronger than the ones used by banks online.Thousands of hours went into selecting the bestrecord system for our practice, customizing it tomeet the needs of each specialty, and trainingdoctors on how to use the program effectively. Inaddition, linkages needed to be developed to thesystems of our partner hospitals.Why have we invested this tremendousamount of time, plus the $4.5 million to $5million required for the changeover? Quitesimply, electronic records are the future ofdocumentation in medicine. There is a strongnational move toward getting them in place, andMarshall is proud to be a leader in implementingthem in West Virginia.By Dr. Gretchen E. Oley, Class of 1982Dr. Charles E. Meadows, Class of 1998, from theDepartment of Internal Medicine, juggles patientfiles before the transfer to EHR.In fact, in conjunction with Marshall’stransition to electronic records, our Robert C.Byrd Center for Rural Health is offering all WestVirginia doctors free use of electronic prescribingsoftware through a partnership in the NationalePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative.E-prescribing is one of the best steps toimprove patient safety.Since implementing it in our ownpractice, we have written more than 12,000prescriptions electronically. For each of those12,000 prescriptions, the system gave physiciansproactive access to any warnings about allergiesor other situations in which the drug shouldnot be used. It gave them an effective way toavoid adverse drug interactions or duplicatinga medication already prescribed by anotherphysician. E-prescribing is easier for patients,too, since the orders go directly to the pharmacy,which can contact the doctor when refills areneeded.Electronic health records offer many otherbenefits for patients and doctors as well. Forexample:* making it possible for patients to haveone comprehensive record that all theirphysicians can see