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More Hospitals Give Their Doctors Access to Physician Information Systems
To win the business of admitting physicians, many hospitals now
provide physicians with access to their patient's treatment records via mobile
devices. This begins with hospitals
transitioning to electronic medical records (EMRs). Once that is accomplished, a growing number
of hospitals offer "physician information systems" that allow doctors to view
patient medical record through various types of mobile devices.
Physician information systems cover a wide range of
functions, including allowing physicians to capture charges on the go for more
efficient billing, to view lab results, vital signs, allergies and medications,
and to sign off on certain procedures.
These functions are usually carried out on mobile devices such as PDAs
and smart phones.
The two market leaders in the mobile physician information
system space are Thomson Healthcare (which purchased MercuryMD in 2006) and PatientKeeper. Other mobile physician products come from EMR
vendors, such as Meditech and Cerner.
Some hospitals are taking advantage of changes in the Stark
Law to offer EMR systems to local physicians.
Atlanta-based Alegent Health offers its admitting physicians an ambulatory EMR system. "We found that about 80% of the physicians
wanted the practice management component as well, so we had to circle back to
give them that too," said Ken Lawonn, Senior Vice President and CIO of Alegent
Health. "The ability to integrate what
the physicians are doing in their offices will breed some loyalty... it will make
life easier for the clinicians, and we believe we'll see better outcomes with
our patients. And that's where we're
going to be judged going forward."
Another idea emerging from the use of physician information
systems is that hospitals should work with their hospital competitors to adopt
systems that work at either hospital, thus making life easier for clinicians. Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
took this approach, said CIO Jeff Cash.
Physicians "are going to steer patients to you based on your clinical
care, on the level of technology you offer, on the nursing care. So let's make the playing field even."
Laboratory test results are already an integral part of
physician information systems. Expect
these systems to be configured so that physicians can order laboratory tests
and other procedures directly from their mobile device in the near future. Progressive laboratories will want to
research and support physician information systems in their service area.
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