Hospital looks to implement electronic records

In her role as director of quality and risk management, Jessica Fernandez is eager for the day the hospital implements electronic health records to manage patient accounts.
Fernandez updated Allen County Hospital board members at their meeting Tuesday night on how the electronic system will help keep track of patients’ records in myriad ways.
As soon as a patient is admitted to the hospital the database will show what medications a patient is on, what allergies or interactions a patient may have with a certain drug, and how one drug may interact with another, to name just a few items of a patient’s history and how the database will be superior to a paper trail.
“Once we have electronic records, we can scan a patient’s records right at their bedside giving us their complete medical history. From there we can ensure the medications they are to receive are accurate and pose no problems,” from allergies or bad interactions with other drugs, Fernandez said.  If a problem is detected, the drug will be “flagged,” calling for a review by the attending pharmacist and physician, she said.
Today, the same measures are taken, but in a more time-consuming way, requiring multiple sheets of paper of orders and with greater room for error, Fernandez said.
The electronic system will also allow physicians and pharmacists to “sign off” simultaneously on a patient who has been dismissed.
“One patient’s ‘task sheet’ may require the signature of four or five doctors approving her dismissal,” Fernandez said. That could take a while if the paperwork is shelved in a cubbyhole. Processing a patient’s charts in a timely manner is critical to a hospital being reimbursed by insurance.
Fernandez walked board members through the various steps of review hospital employees enforce to ensure quality care of patients.
Instances that require review include falls by patients, medication errors, complaints, infections, or bad outcomes from procedures, to name a few.
Frequently staff self-report mistakes, Fernandez said.
From there, four levels of response can be taken:
1. Review shows the standard of care was met, the physician did everything he or she could, and an unforeseen complication arose.
2. No harm was done, but the possibility for harm existed.
3. A probability of harm existed in the instance.
4. Injury, if not death, did result from some form of negligence.
The first two levels of complaints are typically handled in-house by peer review committees. More serious complaints are reviewed by outside groups such as state associations of nurses and physicians.
The board of directors reviews all the complaints, Fernandez said.
Fernandez said she receives anywhere from 10 to 20 minor incident reports a week.
“I’d rather receive 20 reports in a week than zero,” she said. “If you don’t receive anything, then they’re not telling you.”
“The reports can also indicate trends,” she said. “It’s a way we can see if we need to do something different. Sometimes a process needs to be changed or looked at or a person needs retraining.”

IN OTHER news, Jim Gilpin, Mary Ann Arnott and Mary Kay Heard, leaders of the Campaign for Excellence fundraising arm of the hospital, explained the six levels of financial contributions and how gifts can translate into “naming” opportunities of patient rooms and other areas of the new hospital.
The categories begin at gifts of $25,000 and range up to $1 million. To date, three patient rooms have been spoken for, as well as the emergency room, conference room, imaging room, nurses’ break room and an education room.
Naming rights are secure only when a financial commitment is met, Gilpin said.
After touring the new hospital earlier in the month, Gilpin proposed tours be allowed possibly on weekends for prospective donors.
“It could be a great way to build anticipation and interest in donating,” he said. The exact amount of an individual’s donation to the hospital will be kept confidential, Gilpin said. All donations are tax-exempt, he said, and handled through the Allen County Community Foundation.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE for the new hospital was explored with a visit to Axon Displays of Newton. Brian Ebert, a 1993 graduate of Iola High School, works with the company. Ebert will prepare a bid for both inside and outside signage ideas, said Karen Gilpin, a hospital trustee.
Trustees agreed to sign a contract with Cindy Parks of Parks Communications of Olathe to help them decide on a name for the news hospital. Parks’ contract calls for 10-15 hours work at $75 an hour.
Ron Baker, the new chief executive officer, reports for duty Monday.
Trustees will next meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 in the basement of the hospital. Top on the agenda will be to discuss a new name for the hospital. The meetings are open to the public.