Elizabeth Daigneau is GOVERNING's managing editor.
E-mail: edaigneau@governing.comTwitter: @governing
Health & Human Services
Hospitals Get a Dose of Help
Health IT scores savings for emergency rooms
Hospital emergency departments are finding a good reason to charge ahead with electronic medical systems: They save money.
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York can prove it. The hospital has been using an emergency department information system since the summer of 2004. The system automates everything--from the initial triaging of patients to retrieving lab results to juggling bed assignments to billing--enabling doctors and nurses to spend more time focusing on patients. In the first two years of the program, the hospital's emergency department experienced a $7.5 million increase in revenue and a 50 percent decrease in the average length of patient stay. The electronic system has also raised the rate of chart completion by nurses and doctors and eliminated the problem of lost charts.
Mount Sinai's tallies come as states and the Bush administration are looking at ways to hook every hospital and doctor's office up to an electronic medical records system in the next 10 years. EMRs could further enhance the effectiveness of the emergency-room system.
Although less than one-third of the nation's emergency departments have invested in electronic medical systems, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several that have show results similar to Sinai's. "Our leadership and legislatures," says Dr. Kevin M. Baumlin, director of informatics for Mount Sinai's E.R., "should be offering some sort of block grants to fund this type of work."
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for updates.
Twitter: @governing
Latest from Health & Human Services
- Which States Accepted the Most Refugees in 2012?
- Millions of federal dollars flow every year through the states and a network of relief organizations to help refugees find housing, health care and jobs.
- Fact vs. Fiction: Arkansas' Game-Changing Medicaid Expansion Plan
- A lot of information is floating around about the state's first-of-its-kind plan to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. Arkansas' Medicaid director sets the record straight.
- Program Keeps Seniors from Unnecessary Psychiatric Admissions
- Too many times, state officials say, nursing home residents wrongly end up in psychiatric care.
- More States Explore Tanning Bed Bans for Teens
- California, Vermont and New York all enacted their bans in 2012, and in the current legislative session, lawmakers in 29 states have introduced measures that would tighten restrictions on teen tanning.
- Bill Linking Welfare to Grades Passes Tennessee House
- After a lengthy and passionate debate, a House committee approved legislation that would reduce welfare benefits for families whose children are failing school.
Jobs in Health
Browse thousands of available health jobs. Find a health job with detailed, free information on key career areas in health. Or post a job.
View or Post Health Jobs
Human Services Newsletter
Our monthly email newsletter offers an overview of developments and issues relating to the delivery of social services such as welfare and health care.
View Sample
Subscribe to GOVERNING Newsletters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Flickr
RSS
© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved. |