YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Information technology is at the core of many, but not all, of the technology upgrades taking place at health-care providers throughout the Mahoning and Shenango valleys. A few are driven by the move toward electronic medical records.
At Sharon Regional Health System in Sharon, Pa., a private fiber loop that connects the campus to the James E. Feeney Technology Center at the LindenPointe Innovative Business Campus and the Sharon Regional Medical Park, both in Hermitage, should be up and running this fall, says Donna Walters, chief information officer.
The $750,000 project represents a “significant investment” in equipment, she says.
The connection will permit Sharon Regional to transition the majority of its information technology system to the Feeney Center, says marketing director Ed Newmeyer.
“We were fortunate to be able to work with the city of Hermitage and be part of Lindenpointe,” he remarks.
Information technology is playing an increasingly important role in hospitals as they convert their paper medical records to electronic records. The conversion requires additional space not only for hardware but support personnel as well. The completion of the fiber-optic cabling and network “enables us to consolidate so much of that offsite and we’re better able to use that for clinical space,” Newmeyer says.
Clinical space at the Sharon Regional campus is “at a premium,” so relocating the majority of the IT operations offsite will free valuable clinic space there, affirms Waters, the chief information officer. “We’re sitting on some pretty decent clinical space” and already several departments are eyeing uses for the space once IT vacates it, she remarks.
As Sharon Regional works toward objectives in effecting electronic medical records, the western Pennsylvania health-care system has achieved Stage 1 of federal “meaningful use” requirements and is moving toward the second stage. By late winter or early next spring, the system should have its patient portal online, allowing Sharon Regional patients to view their medical records from home.
“We will be doing that for the hospital and the physician practices,” Walters says. “That’s a pretty substantial gain.”
Another piece of Phase 2 will involve a secure electronic communications system that allows physicians to transmit patient information to other physicians.
In addition, new computer-assisted coding is being put in place because of federal requirements for more specific information if they want to be reimbursed through Medicare and Medicaid.
This summer, Humility of Mary Health Partners is relaunching MyChart, a patient portal to the system’s electronic medical records that can be accessed on computer or via an application on patients’ mobile devices.
Through MyChart, patients can learn basic health information regarding their conditions and prescriptions, schedule appointments, send messages to their health-care providers, get reminders about health maintenance and receive lab results, says Cindy Kravec, a physician at St. Elizabeth Health Center and ambulatory manager for HMHP’s CarePATH electronic medical records.
MyChart provides patients with “ready, anytime access to their own basic health information, something that’s very important,” she says.
Patients out of town who need to know their medications or seek urgent care, for example, “can simply access their MyChart to get that information,” she continues.
“From a physician standpoint, it allows us to do a couple things,” she adds.
For one, care providers can use the patient portal to send reminders about health maintenance and making appointments, for example.
Also, patients with difficult-to-control conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure can provide some readings through the portal so that their care can sometimes be managed without having to return to the office.
It not only is a “patient satisfier,” it allows HMHP to promote patient safety, she says. “It allows patients to have responsibility and to take ownership of their own health,” she remarks.
HMHP introduced MyChart in November 2010, Kravec recalls. “There is so much that goes into a ‘go live’ when you’re implementing electronic medical records,” she explains. “We did an initial push to sign patients up but because of the activity going on around here, we’re relaunching MyChart.”
One reason for the relaunch is to address the segments of the patient population who lack ready access to a computer.
“We found that most of our patients do have smartphones or smart devices, so we felt we should probably take a different tack and make sure that we can offer it to patients who don’t have a computer,” she said. “If they have a smartphone, then they can have a MyChart.”
Health-care providers are under incentive periods to encourage them to meet electronic medical records objectives, but they note, eventually penalties will be imposed on providers that don’t reach those goals.
In January 2010, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley’s emergency department went to electronic records, followed by the entire inpatient hospital in June 2012.
“We’re now taking up what we call our primary care offices,” says Sharon Hrina, vice president, Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley.
The Warren office is in its first month of going live and Boardman is scheduled to go up in September, she reports.
Also, half of the specialties in the Boardman Medical Pavilion are up and the other half will go up next year. “By the end of 2014 it will be pretty much seamless and everybody will be up on electronic medical records,” she says.
The cost of implementing electronic medical records systemwide is $48 million, Hrina reports. “It’s been a very expensive adventure for us but we have to do it. There’s no other choice,” she remarks.
While the records switchover has represented a substantial outlay, Hrina also points to other investments in medical technology that more directly affect patient care.
One of the most important items is a new Kalare digital X-ray system. It offers improved image quality and allows patients to be exposed to lower doses of radiation, Hrina says.
Akron Children’s also recently introduced a new pulmonary function lab at the Boardman Medical Pavilion.
The lab, which has equipment specifically calibrated for children and infants, can be used to help physicians determine children’s quality of breathing, especially children with asthma or cystic fibrosis.
“It helps determine how deep they breathe in and out,” Hrina says. “That gives a better idea of how they can treat the patient.”
EDITOR's NOTE: This story appears in the July print edition of The Business Journal.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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