Comment
Voters should support CCHS Technology Levy
On one proposal for health care reform at least, there is a rare bipartisan
consensus: the push to computerize patient records.
—New York Times, September 10, 2009
At the Dayton and Waitsburg Clinics, which are both operated by the Columbia County Health System (CCHS), the doctors and staff are friendly and well-trained, the equipment and facilities are modern (and, in the case of the Waitsburg Clinic, the facilities are almost brand new) and the medical care you'll receive there is as good as you'll get in just about any smaller community in the country.
But while the doctor or nurse is working with you, he or she will be doing one thing that will seem very old fashioned in this age of online banking and social networking: writing down your medical information on a piece of paper with a pen. That piece of paper will then be put in your file (yes, one of those tan Manila ones) and placed in the drawer of a metal file cabinet in the clinic. And there it will sit.
If you ever need to go to the emergency room at the Dayton hospital, the staff there will have no way to learn any medical information about you (except what you can tell them off the top of your head, assuming you're conscious) until someone can get access to that metal file cabinet. And if you ever need medical care when you're out of town, it could be a long time before the medical staff where you are can see the medical records where you came from.
CCHS is asking voters in the Columbia County Hospital District to approve a one-time levy of $795,000 to convert all of their facilities and departments to a comprehensive electronic medical records system (see article on page 9). This system will allow any medical staff in any CCHS facility to instantly access a patient's records. It will also allow medical staff in other facilities to quickly access records of a patient who has traveled out of the area. This could be a matter of life and death in an emergency.
We urge voters to support this very important measure. It will add an estimated $1.29 per thousand dollar valuation to property tax bills in 2010 only. It will also allow CCHS to collect more than half a million dollars in federal stimulus funds after the system is operational. These funds will be used for ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the system, including staff time.
In order to continue to receive full Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements after 2015, CCHS will be required to have an electronic medical records system in place. And our local health facilities won't be able to operate for long without those reimbursements.
If we don't act now, we'll simply delay the inevitable, which will cost more later, and will come without financial help from the government. Consider it preventive care for our medical facilities, and money well spent.