Berta Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Source VA Media Press Release "Medical Journal Praises VA Electronic Health Record VA Continues to Lead Health Care Industry WASHINGTON (April 6, 2009) - A recent study in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine singles out the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for its successful implementation of a comprehensive system of electronic health records. The study's authors, led by Dr. Ashish K. Jha of Harvard University, noted that VA's use of electronic health records has significantly enhanced the quality of patient care. They also found that only 1.5 percent of U.S. hospitals have comprehensive electronic health records; adding VA hospitals to the analyses doubled that number. "VA hospitals have used electronic health records for more than a decade with dramatic associated improvements in clinical quality," the study's authors wrote. VA clinicians began using computerized patient records in the mid-1990s for everything from recording examinations by doctors to displaying results of lab tests and x-rays. Patient records are available 100 percent of the time to VA health care workers, compared to 60 percent when VA relied on paper records. Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA's under secretary for health, said VA has "one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated electronic systems" for patient records in the nation. "VA's electronic health record system has largely eliminated errors stemming from lost or incomplete medical records, making us one of the safest systems in the health care industry," Kussman said. The authors of the NEJM article are the latest to praise VA for its technology and commitment to patient safety. In 2006, VA received the prestigious "Innovations in American Government" Award from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government for its advanced electronic health records and performance measurement system." GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University ! When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we." Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Sorry, I think I just puked in my mouth. I'm going to e-mail the authors of this piece of fiction and tell them the real story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder tagandbag Posted April 6, 2009 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted April 6, 2009 My opinion is that this is mostly true with the VAMC and hopefully will only get better. Nothing is perfect and with all the patients and records they handle, there is always the possibility for error. T&B " In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a Congress" - John Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder allan Posted April 6, 2009 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted April 6, 2009 When seeking ER care, I find it interesting the VA nurse can't find any medical records in their computer, when the records dept is 10 feet away. I also find it interesting that one VAMC in the same state can't access any previous VAMC medical records, labs, MRI's, ex-rays on me at another VAMC while doing a neurological workup or orthopeadic workup. They have it together alright. The best in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 ....yup, and my doc never knows what meds I'm on, never knows what I'm allergic too, i even have to spell one of the meds for the nurses everytime. and let's not even start on the pharmacy...omg, they might as well be using post-it notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder Pete53 Posted April 6, 2009 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted April 6, 2009 My experience is that the defaults answer many questions electronically and are wrong and do not fit the dialogue. What is your pain and you say 7 and the record says 0. Veterans deserve real choice for their health care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder john999 Posted April 6, 2009 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted April 6, 2009 The VAMC still gets my records mixed up with another vet that has the same first and last name I do. Since we have different SSA numbers and different claim numbers I don't know how this happens. I was getting labs done last week and you would not believe what a madhouse the VAMC was here in Tampa. I have never seens crowds like that with people waiting for hours to get their labs done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
Berta
Source VA Media Press Release
"Medical Journal Praises VA Electronic Health Record
VA Continues to Lead Health Care Industry
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2009) - A recent study in the prestigious New
England Journal of Medicine singles out the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) for its successful implementation of a comprehensive system
of electronic health records.
The study's authors, led by Dr. Ashish K. Jha of Harvard University,
noted that VA's use of electronic health records has significantly
enhanced the quality of patient care. They also found that only 1.5
percent of U.S. hospitals have comprehensive electronic health records;
adding VA hospitals to the analyses doubled that number.
"VA hospitals have used electronic health records for more than a decade
with dramatic associated improvements in clinical quality," the study's
authors wrote.
VA clinicians began using computerized patient records in the mid-1990s
for everything from recording examinations by doctors to displaying
results of lab tests and x-rays. Patient records are available 100
percent of the time to VA health care workers, compared to 60 percent
when VA relied on paper records.
Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA's under secretary for health, said VA has
"one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated electronic systems" for
patient records in the nation.
"VA's electronic health record system has largely eliminated errors
stemming from lost or incomplete medical records, making us one of the
safest systems in the health care industry," Kussman said.
The authors of the NEJM article are the latest to praise VA for its
technology and commitment to patient safety. In 2006, VA received the
prestigious "Innovations in American Government" Award from Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government for its advanced electronic health records
and performance measurement system."
GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !
When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief
Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was
simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."
Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.
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