Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 37)

www.HealthcareITNews.com phySIcIaN pRacTIcES & aMBULaTORy caRE February 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 37 Looking to the future, Cigna selects an EHR By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor aHrq Continued from page 35 – Cigna Medical Group, a division of Cigna Healthcare of Arizona, has decided to undergo a major revamp by rolling-out an electronic health record across all its 19 facilities. CMG plans to implement Allscripts’ TouchWorks v11, a Web-based EHR that leverages advanced .NET technology for medium-size to large physician practices. The group will integrate TouchWorks with its existing practice management system from Epic Systems Corporation over the next 18 months. The EHR will serve 200 CMG providers and 900 support staff by the end of 2009. Bob Carroll, vice president of operations for Cigna HealthCare of Arizona, said the key driver for implementing an EHR was improving quality of care for patients. He added that it would increase safety, security Bob Carroll and confidentiality. The implementation will impact all of CMG providers but clinicians will likely feel it the most. “This will improve quality by enabling our physicians to practice state of the art medicine following evidence-based guidelines, without having to rely on a paper record,” said Eric Schwartz, MD, a CMG physician who led the group’s EHR selection committee. TouchWorks EHR will automate everyday clinical tasks such as prescribing, lab work and documentation. The EHR will also connect CMG with other caregivers, laboratories, pharmacies and insurers. TouchWorks EHR’s modular approach enables providers to adopt one or a few modules of the full solution, and then add more functionality over time, said Carroll. Quick return on investment is not CMG’s number one priority right now, Carroll insisted. Instead, they will focus on creating benchmarks that measure improvements in quality of care. “We are not just implementing an EHR – we are changing all our processes,” Carroll said. Allscripts will provide the EHR via the application service provider model. PHOENIX More at 2004, authors polled more than 1,000 physicians and surgeons in Missouri and Washington state. The survey reported that 56 percent of physicians had prior involvement with a serious error, 74 percent were involved with a minor error, and 66 percent reported a “near miss.” More than half – 54 percent – agreed with the statement “medical errors are usually caused by failures of care delivery systems, not failures of individuals.” According to the survey, few physicians believe they have access to a reporting system designed to improve patient safety, and 45 percent don’t know if one exists at their organization. Thirty per- Carolyn Clancy, cent of those sur- MD veyed agree that current systems to report patient safety events are adequate. Physicians said that in order to formally report error information: • Information must be kept confidential and non-discoverable (88 percent); • Evidence should be made available that such information would be used for system improvements (85 percent) and not for punitive action (84 percent); • The error-reporting process must take less than two minutes (66 percent); and • The review activities must be confined to their department (53 percent). “These findings shed light on an important question – how to create error-reporting programs that will encourage clinician participation,” said AHRQ director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD. “Physicians say they want to learn from errors to improve patient safety. We need to build on that willingness with error-reporting programs that encourage their participation.” ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: aHrq 0208 [ cynergy ] The advantageous combination of uniquedesign, power and elements. Cynergy by CompuCaddy. A lightweight cart that's heavy on power. Designed for effortless mobility and equipped with the most advanced power system in the industry. CompuCaddy 800.264.4734 www.compucaddy.com e ● Connect: CoMPuCaddY 0208 HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: CIGNa 0208 Visit us at Booth #5463 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8619 http://www.compucaddy.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8622 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8695

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Healthcare It News - February 2008 Contents Hot Potato Wal-Mart Focus CIO Role Wasteland Linking Docs Katrina Work P4P Team Fire Sale? Emergency Systems Beyond Business

Healthcare It News - February 2008

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