On the trail of paperless patient charts

The days of doctors and nurses pulling a chart and flipping through pages of information before visiting with a patient at their bedside soon will be a thing of the past.

Electronic medical records are replacing paperwork in hospitals across the Northwest Valley as the medical community transitions to the digital age.

In the Sun Cities, both Banner Boswell and Del E. Webb medical centers are in the early stages of transitioning to electronic medical records, which is part of a large investment by Banner.

Banner Health is investing $30 million for each Banner facility for transformation efforts, which include hardware, software and training. The Sun Cities transitions are taking place simultaneously, with the first stage taking place Aug. 1.

At that time, the hospital will begin laying the foundation of the system, beginning with implementing the basic part of the software package, including data collection, patient registration and diagnostic codes. Laboratory, pharmacy and radiology studies also will be introduced.

The next phase of the roll-out will occur in 2010, when all nursing notes and vital signs will go digital.

The final phase, which involves physician order entries, is targeted to occur in 2011.

“That is kind of the capstone of the project, the software where physicians do everything on the computer, all notes, all orders are done automatically,” said Banner Boswell’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Terry Loftus.

Making those orders electronically eliminates human error, which can occur when nurses and support staff may misread a doctor’s handwriting or have to call to clarify information. It also eliminates steps in the paper process and has more immediate information available for review.

At Banner Thunder Medical Center in Glendale, officials say the integration of electronic medical records will combine laboratory results, X-ray images and reports, medication records and nurses’ and physicians’ documentation.

Banner Thunderbird will make the final phase of transition to electronic medical records by the end of the year.

“In October, we will be adding provider computer order entry so that physicians can electronically enter their orders,” said Jenney Clark, senior manager for deployment for the electronic medical records program.  “When this is implemented, the paper medical record will go away, and we will have a complete electronic medical record.”

Officials say patients need not worry about having medical information accessible electronically, and the system is designed to meet HIPAA patient privacy rights.

Michele Winters, chief nursing officer at Banner Del E. Webb, said patients can rest assured their records are safe.

“Patient privacy is one of the highest priorities in the care we provide now and in the electronic medical records,” Winters said.
Winters said additional education about electronic medical records could help reassure seniors and others who are leery about the new practice.

“It is important to reassure folks this is a technology that allows nurses to spend more time at bedside with patients,” Winters said. “And it’s safer, and a higher quality way of providing for our patients.”

Electronic records allow ready-access for physicians to reference from their office, and contain the complete record and notes, which allows for easier monitoring and coordination of care. It also allows for multiple medical staff members to view the records simultaneously.
Transitioning doctors to electronic medical records will take some time, Loftus said.

“We have 700 physicians on staff at Boswell, and all of them are going to go through training,” he said. “And on the nurses’ side, they have to go through a similar type of education experience. It’s not easy to do in a short period of time.”

But once on board, physicians such as those in the new Banner medical centers, Gateway and Estrella — which opened their doors with full electronic medical records systems in place — say the move is beneficial.

“There is hesitancy in changing and bringing a new skill set on,” Loftus said. “But afterward, the most common comments we hear is they don’t ever want to go back to the paper charts.”