Quality Connection Fall 04'

lectronic medical records (EMR)
are revolutionizing the practice
of outpatient medicine, according to
Gerald Ehrsam, MD, a board-cer tified
internist with the Licking Memorial
Internal Medicine group in Newark,
Ohio. Dr. Ehrsam's group of about 70
providers "took the plunge" with EMRs
four years ago and have seen substantial
dividends in terms of quality of care
improvements and office efficiency.

A key aspect of the Health System's
quality program is its Intranet por tal.
This monitors all quality measures and
provides physicians 24/7 availability
from any computer. Physicians in the
group can track how well the practice
is performing in specific areas such as
disease management (i.e., diabetes,
hear t disease), immunizations or
patient safety issues.

f your practice is experiencing a surge of
appointment requests for September 21, it might
be a result of the national Closing the Health Gap
campaign by the U.S. Depar tment of Health and
Human Ser vices (HHS). The campaign, which focuses
on the health gap between racial and ethnic
minorities and the general population, encourages
individuals to see a healthcare professional on
September 21 or make an appointment for the
near future.

The Closing the Health Gap campaign suppor ts
HHS's initiative to eliminate racial and ethnic
disparities in health. HHS is focusing on six major
areas in which racial and ethnic minorities
experience serious disparities in health access and
outcomes. These areas are the following: diabetes,
hear t disease and stroke, cancer, infant mor tality,
child and adult immunizations, and HIV/AIDS. The
campaign also promotes the goals of Healthy
People 2010, the nation's agenda for improving
public health.

For fur ther information, please contact Ohio
KePRO's Physician Office Team at 1-800-385-5080;
droffice@ohqio.sdps.org. I

The system used by the Licking
Memorial Health Professionals enables
patients and physicians to view the
patient's medical record on a flat screen
monitor located in each exam room.
"We use the computer as an educational
tool," said Dr. Ehrsam. The physician
and patient can simultaneously review
the patient's medical histor y, including
test results and medications. Numerous
personalized handouts as well as
prescriptions can be printed directly to
a printer located in each exam room.
Information can be added to the EMR in
the exam room during the patient's visit,
thereby saving the physician time.

In addition, the EMRs of all patients are
accessable to the group's physicians in
any location when needed (home,
hospital, etc.). Dr. Ehrsam notes that
his group's system has strong security
features and is HIPAA compliant.

"Being successful with preventive
measures is all about improving one's
processes," said Dr. Ehrsam. The EMR
helps by generating prompts that
display directly on the patient's char t
to remind providers of needed tests
or preventive ser vices. It is also linked
electronically with the laborator y and
radiology depar tment at Licking
Memorial Hospital. Test results are
added directly to a patient's EMR.

"The system informs physicians in our
group how they are doing with respect
to par ticular quality measures," said
Dr. Ehrsam. He adds that this process
allows physicians to answer questions
such as "Are par ticular tests being
done?" "What are the outcomes?"
"How are we as providers performing?"

Patient safety
Dr. Ehrsam emphasizes EMR systems
have the potential to dramatically
enhance patients' safety and reduce
medical errors. For example, the system
used by Licking Memorial Health
Professionals generates warnings about
drug interactions and even aler ts the
provider as to which drugs are on the
patient's insurance formular y. In addition,
notes Dr. Ehrsam, "within 24 hours we
can notify our patients if a drug they are
taking has been recalled."

Physician Office Team's
Ser vices Menu

The following is a list of the ser vices that Ohio
KePRO's Physician Office Team offers free of
charge to healthcare providers and their staffs:

Electronic Medical Records... (cont.)

on specific quality measures rather than
relying on random char t audits."

A new way to look at quality
Dr. Ehrsam emphasizes that his group's
EMR improves the accuracy of quality
repor ting. "This has resulted in a
tremendous improvement in our quality
measures numbers," he said. "We're
now able to look at whole populations of
patients and get exact numbers with
respect to how our group is performing

Dr. Ehrsam acknowledges that there is a
learning cur ve when a practice switches
from a paper medical records system to
an electronic one. But, he's quick to point
out that once the system is up and
running practices will never look back. I

Quality
Process Improvement

Information Technology
Project Management for IT Selection,
Installation, Implementation

Data
Collection and Trending

Data Analysis
Customized for Specific Needs

Educational Materials/Tools
Patient
Provider
Office Staff

For fur ther information, please contact Ohio
KePRO's Physician Office Team at 1-800-385-
5080; droffice@ohqio.sdps.org., or visit
www.ohiokepro.com. I

November
American Diabetes Month
Great American Smokeout Day--18th

September
National Cholesterol Education Month
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day--21st

October
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Depression Screening Day--7th

Publication No. 4031-OH-002-9/2004. This material was prepared by Ohio KePRO, the Medicare
Quality Improvement Organization for Ohio, under contract with the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Ser vices (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Depar tment of Health and Human Ser vices.
The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy.

Ohio KePRO Physician Office Team

Alice Stollenwerk Petrulis, MD, FACP
Betty Pilous, RN, MHSA, CPHQ
Sandy Gallagher, MPA
Steve Cramer, BS
Leslie Crowe, LPN, BS
Kerri Gilligan, RN

Bonnie Hollopeter, LPN, CPHQ
Marsha Hopper, RN
Kathleen Korosi, MPA
Svetlana Marchuk, BS
Rosalie McGinnis, RN, MS
Marilyn Monteiro

Patricia Moynihan, AAB
Julie Ondercin, RHIA, CPHQ
Linda Wozniak, LPN
Dan Ziemnik, BA

Executive Editor : Suzana C. Iveljic, MBA

Editor : Robert A. Feigenbaum, MS

T H E FA L L 2 0 0 4 I S S U E O F Q U A L I T Y C O N N E C T I O N H A S A R R I V E D !
The Newsletter of the Physician Office Quality Improvement Initiative

Ohio KePRO Provider QIC Line--Your Quality Improvement Connection: 1-800-385-5080
Medicare Help Line: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) e-mail: droffice@ohqio.sdps.org