Local Physician Launches Electronic Medical Records
CANTON, Ohio (Sept. 29, 2009) – Gone are the days of excess paper shuffling, prescription pads and illegible physician handwriting – at least in one local office. Carrollton Family Practitioner Mark Lamielle, DO, has gone digital for all of his estimated 2,500 patients.
His office is the first in Carroll County and among just a handful of doctors in the region to completely offer electronic medical records (EMR) that enables them to easily create, gather and manage patient information electronically.
“Patients are still getting used to seeing me with a computer in the exam room,” he said, “they all think it’s pretty cool, and say they are happy that we are keeping up with what they see on TV.”
He warns the new system is not just an e-version of normal paperwork. “It’s very dynamic, and allows me to use customized templates for the 75 or so most common diagnoses in our office.
“I now have more information than ever when entering an exam room…it displays the patient’s current chief complaint, allergies, previous prescriptions, last physical and other personal medical information. It’s all right there.”
Dr. Lamielle said it’s not uncommon for him to share the data and information on the screen with patients, and then even make a print out for them to take home. “It’s more personal; they deserve to know the details.”
Dr. Lamielle and his staff have proven that the system is significant time saver, because with just a few clicks they can print education materials for patients as well as directly submit a prescription to the patient’s preferred local or mail-order pharmacy electronically. No more faxes or written orders.
“It saves a lot of steps for everyone” he said, “and has really improved communication especially with the laboratory submitting test results.”
Studying the software for a few years and ultimately rolling out the system in early July took a lot of planning, but Dr. Lamielle was confident it would positively impact patients.
“I’ve been interested in EMR for several years,” he said citing a technical background as an engineer prior to becoming a physician. “We are looking forward to further advances in the world of e-records.”
The American government also supports using technology to improve health care efficiency. Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in February allocated $36 billion to incentivize health care providers to use EMR. In fact, those that don’t adopt the technology by 2015 will be penalized. And by 2020, 90 percent of physicians and 70 percent of hospitals are anticipated to be on board.
In the next several months, Aultman Hospital is rolling out an interface that enables medical information collected during a patient’s hospital visit to appear in their physician’s e-system too, according to Dr. Ronald Rusnak, Aultman Hospital Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).
“Aultman utilizes a state-of-the art clinical information system to improve patient care and communication,” he said.
Dr. Lamielle’s implementation was made possible with guidance and training from Aultman’s Management Services Organization (MSO) team, which provides information technology and practice management software and services for physicians throughout Aultman’s five-county service area.
“They made it a cost-effective endeavor for independent physicians like me,” said Dr. Lamielle.
Media Contact
Leslee Dennis, Aultman Communications
330-363-5319, ldennis@aultman.com
