Electronic Medical Records Goals

• Improve the quality and value of patient care
• Reduce administrative, staffing burden
• Immediate access to patient information
• Reduced medication errors
• Increase patient satisfaction through quicker patient intake, chart creation and throughputs
• Increased practice efficiency leading to a better use of your time

These are some of the benefits of having an office electronic medical record system. It is a necessity now. The selection process of an office EMR is a complex process where we have to look at many factors- how easy is it to use, how expensive, how does it communicate with the hospital, how does it communicate with other practices, etc.

The office staff at a medical practice are going to be using the EMR and will need to redesign the workflow to make patient care better, safer; make it easier for the physicians and also for the staff members themselves.

There are natural questions about how office EMR will affect staffing?

I suggest you read this link:

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/10/05/bisa1005.htm

I am envisioning that EMR will redefine the roles of staff members, with more emphasis on patient education, manageing disease registry, etc.

I am excited about it.

What is Acute Exacerbation of COPD?

Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD) is an episode where the patient with COPD has more than usual cough, sputum, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

AECOPD is triggered by infection, pollution, smoking, and poor use of preventive medications.

AECOPD leads to emergency department visit or hospitalization. It is very expensive. One hospitalization costs the system about $7000. AECOPD is very bad for the patients as it leads to poor capacity to breath and to do any activities. It can often be fatal if it causes respiratory failure.

Our goal is to prevent AECOPD.
1. Educate patients to use their Advair or Symbicort, or Spiriva regularly.
2. Give patients the AECOPD Action Plan and prescription refill on standby to self-manage and inform us.
3. Encourage all patients to get vaccinations.
4. Encourage patients to join pulmonary rehab program if they have moderate or severe COPD.
5. Give a hospital follow up appointment ASAP to our patients hospitalized with AECOPD

What is Quality healthcare ?

Everyone is talking about quality these days.
From Toyota to TJC- The Joint Commission, the meaning of quality is an elusive, ever moving target.
Quality and reputation takes a lot of time and effort to build, but it can often be damaged in a short time-
Be it Toyota, or Tiger Woods.

"Doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right person, and having the best possible result"
is a definition of quality healthcare used by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ).

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), quality healthcare has six elements.
I suggest a mnemonic: Quality healthcare is a STEEEP mountain to climb.

Safe—first do no harm
Timely—reduce harmful delays for both those who receive and those who give care
Effective—provide care based on current scientific knowledge and avoid underuse and overuse
Efficient—avoid waste
Equitable—provide care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status
Patient-centered— provide care that is guided by patient's values and needs

How do we measure quality ? Who is responsible for quality ?
These are the big questions to be explored next.

Welcome to MMQB

All of us in the healthcare profession know that the patient is at the center of all that we do. Our mission is to promote health, prevent disease, treat the whole patient, and when cure is not possible, to always provide comfort.
In part due to the rising and out of control healthcare cost, our national debt is more than 14 trillion dollars. The practice of medicine as we know it is changing right now. There is a rise of quality and patient safety movement that is changing the expectations and the payment system slowly.
The major change is Payment for Value. Value is equal to quality divided by the cost.
For private medical offices, the physicians and the staff will have to learn more about patient safety, high quality and low cost delivery of healthcare. The MMQB is specifically designed for the staff members of a medical office. If you are a medical assistant, receptionist, roomer, check-out staff, medical records keeper, biller, coder, office manager, or working in any other capacity, you are a vital part of the team that it takes to care for the patient and their loved ones.
Patient's life and all of our livelihoods depends on it.
Please join the conversation.