Originally Published MX November/December 2005
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
EHR Lessons from Katrina|
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The recent destruction and ensuing chaos caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region threw into sharp relief the need for—and current lack of—adequate electronic health record (EHR) systems in the United States. Shortly after Katrina's devastating blow, Janet Dillione, chief operating officer of the healthcare information technology division at Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, PA), issued a statement calling for a national health information infrastructure that provides standardization among healthcare information systems.
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| Dillione |
"The national dialogue about this need has been gaining momentum, and we are hearing examples of safer, more efficient care from our nation's hospitals through the use of electronic health records," she said. "But in the wake of recent natural disasters, it has become obvious that we still have a long way to go."
Dillione commended the work of doctors, nurses, and other clinical personnel who responded to the medical needs of the thousands of evacuees. "They did a remarkable job under unimaginable conditions—a challenge made greater by the fact that they had virtually no medical history details about their patients, which is essential to making the best possible treatment decisions," she stated.
"Evacuees are often moved between a variety of locations, including nonaffected hospitals, temporary shelters, and private homes," she continued. "Because paper records in damaged hospitals are either inaccessible or destroyed, patients see a variety of doctors—usually with limited knowledge of their medical history, including details on past and current medications, allergies, and treatment. Many patients are too sick to be able to provide adequate information themselves, and are sometimes separated from loved ones who may be able to fill in the blanks. Without access to this basic information, it is not only difficult to provide speedy diagnosis and treatment, but the potential for an inadvertent and possibly fatal medical mistake is enormous."
According to Dillione, Siemens has been working at the national and regional levels to help the healthcare industry achieve the vision, laid out by President Bush last year, of widespread adoption of interoperable EHRs within 10 years.
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