President Obama has stated as one of his most lofty goals is delivering a health care system that provides care for all. This system should be efficient, cost conscious, increase quality care, all while providing this digitally as an Eletronic Medical Record (EMR)! WOW! As a healthcare provider I will say that this is a very daunting endeavor to say the least but it must be done. Do you know how many hospital deaths there are per year due to medical errors? 195,000!
"If the Center for Disease Control's annual list of leading causes of death included medical errors, it would show up as number six, ahead of diabetes, pneumonia, Alzheimer's disease and renal disease," continued Dr. Collier. "Hospitals need to act on this, and consumers need to arm themselves with enough information to make quality-oriented health care choices when selecting a hospital."
Making medical records electronically accessible (e-) in 5 years is a mammoth task. The Obama Administration should use the dental industry as the model. I am a practicing dentist of 25 years and I have been performing e-digital dentistry for the last 10 years. I must tell you as a dentist the last 10 years have been the most enjoyable, efficient, profitable (except for this recession), while bringing the best in quality dental care. While blogging this diary I am at home and I will describe what is taking place in my e-digital dental practice as I write this diary. My answering service calls to alert me of 2 patients, one with a dental abscess that is swollen and in pain; the other their crown had come off. Because I'm online I use my remote access software to view my electronic dental office. I see if these patients are active or new and they are active. I view their progress of treatment notes, mode of payment, medical history, and x-rays before/while talking to the patients. I even scheduled their appointments and e-prescribed the medication. All this was done in less than 15 minutes remotely.
The Electronic Medical Record is starting to be the standard of care in the dental industry and for many reasons:
- Access - authorized users can view the patients chart simultaneously whereas a physical chart can only be at one place at a time.
- Level of security - like in the government levels of security can be blocked for certain tasks i.e. only the doctor has access to prescription wrtiting information and screens.
- Text, images, and graphics is the media - the era of illegible staff and doctors handwriting is over! This saves time, lives, and money.
- Patient education and participation is enhanced - a picture is worth a thousand words. The last time you went to the dentist, remember the doctor showing you this little rectangular x-ray while trying to explain the reason why this infected tooth was hurting so bad you didn't get any sleep last night? You didn't get it did you? Larger than life flat screen images of x-rays, dental decay, before and after images of smiles nods heads quickly. The patient sees an intraoral image of tooth decay at 500x magnification and no explanation is necessary. The patient gets it.
- Ease of transmission to appropriate agencies or agents - After a patients visit, at the click of a mouse or keystoke, appointments are scheduled, insurance claims can be filed, prescriptions sent the pharmacist, or dental info, images electronically sent for a referral to a specialist. It is now possible to have an e-dental/medical conference with the specialist.
- Patient access - patients are be able to view their chart instantly and freely. Ask to see your physical chart in the traditional doctors office and the staff will look at you funny. They probably have to find it first.
- Doctor and staff preparation - no more quickly looking at the chart before you go in the treatment room. The dentist and staff review the patients seen that day to be very familiar before they communicate with the patients. This alone cuts down medical and dental errors in half!
- The e-dental office can reference medicines and medical conditions with a keystroke. These references and images can be printed on request.
- Hygenic issue - how many hands touch a physical chart?
- The patients record stays intact - all the time. Same order, contents, no torn or dogeared pages.
Sounds great? There is a tremendous cost to being e-medical but the returns are instant, long lasting, and will be the revolutionary pivot in providing health care for all. You know what else, it would create millions of permanent jobs that can't be outsourced.
Because the medical industry is about 70-80 times larger than dental, we have to acknowledge the enormity of the problems, manpower, needed revenue, scope, and sacrifices to make health care electronically accessible for all Americans. This aspect and others will be discussed in a series of diaries because America's health is important.