Area health officials will soon be using less paper.
In December, Southeast Ohio’s Regional Extension Center was the first in the state to help healthcare entities in the area — including private practitioners and hospitals — switch to electronic medical records.
Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Appalachian Health Information Exchange are partners running the center.
After about 400 healthcare entities in the region agreed to switch to electronic records, the Southeast region — one of eight in the state — received additional funding to help 100 more caregivers in the area make the change.
In February 2010, the Ohio Health Information Partnership received $44,146,199 in federal grants. Jefford’s region has since received $2,591,662 of that money, including the funds it recently received as a reward for signing 404 caregivers.
The original amount was not recorded, nor was the additional award, because the grant is awarded at rolling increments, said Jill Breeze, administrative coordinator for OU-HCOM.
“It’s tough as a rural practitioner to institute a program like this,” said Jack Brose, dean of OU-HCOM. “It’s costly. (Practitioners) don’t have the support they need. The physicians have been great. The patients are great. It’s money well spent.”
OU-HCOM partnered with Appalachian Health Information Exchange, created by Brian Phillips, former chief of medical informatics at OU-HCOM, to participate in the Ohio Health Information Partnership program, which assists in the switch to electronic records.
Phillips now works as a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences and Professions.
Electronic health records are beneficial because they increase efficiency, access to information and could save medical caregivers time and money, said Kathy Jefford, director of the Southeast Ohio region.
The Southeast Ohio region comprises 19 counties, the largest area in the state. These counties account for about eight percent of Ohio’s population, according to the census bureau.
Jefford works with a small staff to help medical caregivers throughout 19 counties convert their medical records. The electronic health records program provides assistance and support while the offices make the transition, she said.
“I’m really proud of all of us,” Jefford said. “I really enjoy working with these providers. I see what a difference it can make. I grew up in Zanesville; I have relatives in the area. These are my people here. To do what I can to help improve health care in a small way is really fulfilling. It gives me a purpose.”
Each of Jefford’s 19 counties had more than 10 percent of the population below the poverty line. Combined, an average of 19.45 percent of residents were below the line — the highest was Athens at 34.7 percent, according to the census bureau 2009 report.
“In the socioeconomic state of southeast Ohio, it’s difficult for providers in a stressed economic area,” Phillips said. “To get those resources of Ohio to enhance and have the technology here shows a real commitment by the hospital executives and administrative staff, but certainly by Kathy.”
Phillips said he believes there are benefits to not only the medical care administrators but also to the university, which plans on sharing the program’s research.
“To work directly with providers to bring up these technological advances in cooperation with the hospitals is crucial to underserved areas,” Phillips said. “It’s an anchor to provide expertise to those physicians in hospitals to coordinate and utilize this information to provide comprehensive care to patients within those rural areas and in those communities in southeast Ohio.”
sj950610@ohiou.edu
