News
Levy Funding Will Allow Local Health Facilities to Move Into the 21st Century
Story & Photo by Ken Graham
Charlie Button with CCHS's current medical
records system.
On the upcoming General Election ballot, voters living in the Columbia County Hospital District will be asked to approve a $795,000 one-year technology levy. If the measure passes, the levy funds will be used by the Columbia County Health System (CCHS) to purchase and implement a new electronic medical records system that will serve all of its facilities.
The Hospital District estimates that the levy will add $1.29 per thousand dollar valuation to property tax bills in 2010 for property owners in the district, which includes all of Columbia County and a portion of Walla Walla County, around Waitsburg. The levy will be for one year only, and the measure requires a 60% yes vote to pass.
According to CCHS CEO Charlie Button, the Hospital District Board of Directors moved quickly to put the levy measure on the ballot after stimulus funds were made available through the federal stimulus package that passed earlier this year. "If we do this quickly," says Button, "we will be eligible for more than half a million dollars in stimulus funds once the new system is fully operational."
Button says that CCHS will be required to switch to electronic records by 2015, in order to continue to receive full Medicare reimbursements. "Every medical facility in the country will be making this change in the next few years, if they haven't already," he says. "If we wait and do it later, we won't be eligible for the stimulus funds."
If the measure passes, CCHS will enter into a contract with a vendor shortly thereafter to install the new system, which will include servers housed on-site and new software to allow all of CCHS's facilities and departments to access the system. The contract will also include complete on-site training of employees to use the new system. Button anticipates the system being fully operational by the end of 2010.
"Almost all of our records are now kept on paper," says Button. "Our different facilities can't access each other's patient records without physically going to where the file is kept." Button says that the new system will allow all of the facilities within CCHS to access a central database containing patient records. These facilities include Dayton General Hospital, Booker Rest Home and the Dayton and Waitsburg Clinics. "So for instance, hospital staff in Dayton will be able to easily access records for patients who have visited the Waitsburg Clinic," says Button. "In an emergency, this could be a big help."
The new system will allow access to the central patient database for hospital departments such as the lab, physical therapy and pharmacy. The system will also include new software to allow electronic billing for insurance, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Patients will soon be able to access their records at medical facilities outside the area, if they find themselves in need of medical services while traveling. Button also says that the system will eventually allow patients to be able to view their own medical records on line from their home computers, similar to the way bank records can now be accessed.
Button anticipates that the stimulus funds, which the District would receive in 2012, will be used to maintain the new electronic records system. "There will be ongoing costs to manage the system," he says, "including hiring a dedicated IT staff person." The stimulus funds will cover several years of those costs, Button says.