e-Health -- it really hits home, part 1

I was all set to pontificate on the ramifications of the election results (from an e-Health standpoint), when I was jolted back to reality about a week or so ago -- you see, my mother fell at home and had to be taken to her local hospital's Emergency Department (ED).
In spite of heightened emotions, I was still eager to check out what type of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system the hospital used -- I must admit to my disappointment.

Let's be clear -- this discussion is process-related only and has nothing to do with the hospital staff providing the care for my mother; my sole wish is that it serves to help ratchet up the discussion for a true EHR system in this great Province of ours.

That being said, here's a blow/blow of the recent event:

• ambulance personnel arrive at my mom's place -- one of the tools they carry is a laptop; I'm intrigued -- perhaps this is the beginning of an EHR experience, I thought; no such luck -- they never even asked for a Health Card number (HCn), to the best of my recollection
• when we got to the receiving area at the Hospital, I observed them verbally describing the situation to the ED nurse who in turn, took notes
• we then had to go to the triage department where one of the things asked for was my mother's medication record (I had to apologize and explain that in the heat of the situation, that was not one of the things that came to mind)
• then it was on to the registration department where more info was requested and a stack of completed forms and labels were printed
• the latter then had to be placed in a tray at the triage department window

This isn't bad, although it could be improved, I thought as I settled down for a nap, waiting for my Mom to see a doctor.

What transpired at the end of the visit had me shaking my head in disbelief!
Following a long day and a battery of tests, the doctor finally agreed that my mother could be discharged; however, by the time we got back to her apartment, the phone rang and I was ordered to return her to the emergency department immediately -- apparently they didn't like the way the numbers from one of her tests were leaning.

My expectation was that when we arrived back at the ED, her HCn would be keyed in and she'd be seen immediately by the doctor requesting her return.
WRONG! We had to repeat the same process as when we first arrived, i.e. triage, medication requests, blood pressure checks etc., then on to registration where an even bigger stack of paper and labels had to be printed, collated and returned to the triage window.
During my protestations at the delay this was causing, I was told it was necessary due to the fact that records are expunged from the system once a patient is discharged.
Heck, one of the staffers even commented to the fact that an EHR would make things so much easier, to which I replied: "You're preaching to the choir!"

Let's place a bookmark here and discuss next time how one particular organization can drastically improve the above, whilst simultaneously contributing to the reduction of the cost of healthcare delivery, in my next article.

See you then!

Ernest A. James

President & CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.