Doctors turn to electronic record keeping

HARLINGEN — Many doctors’ offices have shelves full of patients’ medical records, each file overflowing with documents, lab results and scribbled notes, with information not so easy to find. For some Valley physicians participating in a new program, though, all it takes is a notebook computer and a stylus to access a patient’s entire medical history.

Valley Health Care Network, a doctors’ network affiliated with Valley Baptist Health System, recently began offering financial assistance and training for local doctors who want to adopt an electronic-records system.

Participating doctors’ offices must use a General Electric program that is compatible with Valley Baptist’s electronic-records system, but they are eligible to receive a significant discount on subscription costs, training and technical support, said Debi Warner, physician-services coordinator for Valley Health Care Network.

Doctors must belong to the network to be eligible for the discounts.

About 43 doctors have signed up so far, with more across the Valley expressing interest, officials said.

An electronic-records system is more efficient, cuts down on errors and helps doctors keep better tabs on patients’ progress than a paper system does, Warner said.

“You don’t have to look through all these paper charts anymore,” she said, demonstrating the computer program’s features. For example, the doctor can create diagrams, search for prescription-drug recalls or send an e-mail with the patient’s complete history to a specialist, all with a quick flick of the stylus.

“If you want to do preventive health care, it’s easy to do with this,” Warner said.

Funding for the program comes from a pay-for-performance account the network set up, said Dr. Garner Klein, executive director of Valley Health Care Network.

More and more doctors’ offices are making the switch to electronic records, but the cost can be a significant barrier, doctors say. Price can range from $10,000 to $50,000, according to Texas Medical Association - or more for a large clinic with multiple physicians.

Until last year, a federal “anti-kickback” law barred hospitals or physician-hospital organizations, like Valley Health Care Network, from offering financial assistance or technical support to doctors who wanted to adopt electronic records.

In 2006, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced an exception to the law, which was intended to prevent doctors from referring patients to services in which they have a financial interest. Under the exception, hospitals now can offer financial and technical assistance to doctor’s offices that are adopting electronic-records systems, according to CMS.

Gov. Rick Perry and the Bush administration are pushing for hospitals and doctor’s offices to adopt electronic-medical records, saying electronic records are more efficient and reduce medical errors.

Most Valley hospitals, from South Texas Health System in Hidalgo County to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, already are adopting electronic-records systems, with information that doctors can access remotely through a secure Internet connection.

But Valley Baptist’s program is one of the first in the region to help doctors’ offices implement an electronic system to manage their own practices, Warner said.

Harlingen-based Su Clínica Familiar, which has six clinics in Cameron and Willacy counties, recently signed on. Without financial help, it would have been tough for the clinic, which is funded by a federal grant, to pay for an electronic-records system, said Su Clínica executive director Dr. Elena Marin.

“It’s more cost-effective for us to implement (electronic records) through the partnership with Valley Baptist,” Marin said.

Su Clínica, which has about 30 doctors, dentists and nurse practitioners, still must invest about $300,000 initially to adopt the system, she said. That amount includes buying notebook computers, a subscription to the program and training. But other programs could have cost the clinic closer to $800,000, she said.

The program also helps Su Clínica more easily submit reports to the government, which is required by the clinic’s grant, Marin said.

“Sometimes, those reports are very time-consuming … we’ll have all that data in a format that can be forwarded to the federal government very efficiently,” she said.

The change in federal law could make it cheaper for doctors’ offices to have electronic records, but adopting a hospital-offered records program could have its downside, the Texas Medical Association warned in an April report.

Doctors should make sure the program offered by the hospital meets their practice’s needs and includes all the necessary staff training, the report says.

Marin said she is happy with the partnership Su Clínica has with the health-care network.

“It will dramatically improve the management of our clinic,” she said.

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Melissa McEver covers health and environment issues for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Harlingen and you can reach her at (956) 430-6252. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com