Quality Improvement

Better Information Means Better Health Care

In Vermont, several physician practices and hospitals have taken steps toward using EHRs to improve the quality of the health care they are delivering. At Middlebury Family Health, a four-physician practice in Middlebury, the EHR is being used to identify patients who are due for preventive services. Middlebury Family Health was the first Vermont physician practice to demonstrate that it uses its EHR in a meaningful way to improve patient care, and thus received incentives from the federal government.

“Our electronic health records system has streamlined communication in the office between physicians, nurses, and other staff,” said Eileen Doherty Fuller, MD, a partner at Middlebury Family Health. “We’ve also greatly enhanced communications with our patients. Using the EHR, we can better track which patients are overdue for physicals, mammograms, and checkups for high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.” When the electronic health records system flags an overdue preventive service, Middlebury Family Health contacts the patient to schedule an appointment. “Often patients don’t realize it is time for them to come in, so we are able to be more proactive about reminders,” Dr. Fuller said.

In the short video below, Dr. Fuller, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, and others discuss how EHRs are improving health care quality both in Vermont and nationally.

 

More Complete Records

Traditionally, your primary care physician has been expected to act as the central hub for all your medical records, including laboratory results, tests, and records sent from other doctors. But sometimes — when you change doctors, when providers have out-of-date information, or simply when procedures aren’t followed correctly — this system can break down. Health information technology (health IT) offers a better way of establishing that hub.

Consider for a moment all the different types of information that make up your medical record and all the different places that information can come from:

  • Medical history, including diagnoses, medications, and allergies, from current and past doctors, emergency facilities, and school clinics
  • Immunization history, from current and past doctors, school clinics, workplace clinics, health departments, pharmacies, and emergency facilities
  • Laboratory results from physician office labs, hospital labs, and independent labs
  • Medical imaging, from a doctor’s office, radiology offices, hospital radiology departments, and independent imaging centers

The promise of electronic health records is a comprehensive record that includes all of this information: a record that is up to date, complete, accurate, and in the hands of your doctor or you and your family when it’s needed. That makes all of your providers more knowledgeable about you and better able to work with you to make more informed decisions about your health.