Digital medical files will increase patient safety

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August 4, 2010

Anonymous The Union-Recorder The Union-Recorder Wed Aug 04, 2010, 08:00 AM EDT

MILLEDGEVILLE — New technological capabilities at Oconee Regional Medical Center are creating greater accessibility and monitoring of patient care.

The hospital recently introduced the first phase of a planned conversion to all-digital medical files. This not only helps to simplify steps in patient care, it also helps establish additional fail-safes for the level of attention already put forth in patient safety. The new digital system helps to establish a common language and use of terminology for multiple areas of patient care, so that pertinent information is less likely to get overlooked in translation or interpretation.

The transition includes the introduction of 52 portable carts that allow health care providers with the accessibility to enter — and monitor — patient care plans and health information that would normally be found in paper charts.

The new system removes variables like penmanship and replaces them with typed and accurate instructions for areas such as medicine dosage or what to do after being discharged. ORMC protocols and policies are built-in under the new digital system, and caregivers are able to access them while viewing patient data, saving time and ensuring continuity. It also reconciles all medication taken by patients, including medication used in home care.

This streamlining measure will also eventually be implemented in emergency room care, where every second is precious. Recent data indicates that of the estimated 40,000 cases of major trauma that occur each year in Georgia, only about 10,000 are treated in designated Level I trauma centers. In life or death matters, particularly with regards to emergency care, any steps that can be taken to improve the focus on patient safety is certainly a positive.

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