The EHR and Preparing for Health Care Reform
01/04/2010
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I’m Doug Hawthorne, CEO of Texas Health Resources, with “The Business of Health Care Report.”
As our leaders in Washington make progress towards health care reform, hospitals must prepare for meaningful change by continuing to make strides toward greater transparency, improved quality and safety, and utilization of the electronic health record to increase efficiencies and reduce medical errors.
The electronic health record — or EHR — is a computer-based family of systems for collecting, organizing, sharing, and managing clinical and administrative patient information. In 2006, Texas Health hospitals launched the boldest and most aggressive deployment of EHR in North Texas. The EHR is now fully deployed in 12 of our 14 hospitals.
The electronic health record has been identified as one of the most powerful tools for reducing medical errors and improving quality of care as measured by patient outcomes and patient safety.
The EHR improves access to reliable patient information, integrates data from multiple sources, and minimizes transcription errors by replacing handwriting with easy-to-read screens. The technology also provides automatic alerts to guard against medication errors, and supports sharing of best practices.
Texas Health’s investment in EHR, coupled with its commitment to transparency and pursuit of continual quality and safety improvements, help position us to be prepared for the future of health care in our country.
For our faith-based family of hospitals — Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Harris Methodist and Texas Health Arlington Memorial — I’m Doug Hawthorne.
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