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OC Outpaces State in Electronic Medical Records

Doctor groups seem to be adopting electronic medical records at a faster pace locally than they are statewide.

The local evidence is primarily anecdotal or tied to individual organizations, so a direct comparison with statewide adoption isn’t possible. But statistics at the state level are underwhelming.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently said that 40% of office-based doctors are using basic electronic health record systems in California.

Comparisons

That’s lower than in Minnesota (60.9%), Wisconsin (59.9%) and North Dakota (57.9%), California’s reputation as a trend-setter in healthcare notwithstanding.

The lowest rates of electronic-records adoption include Louisiana (15.9%), New Jersey (16.3%) and South Carolina (19.5%).

The adoption of any type of electronic health records by national offices reached 57% last year, up 17% since 2002. Basic electronic health record growth went from 12% to 34% during the same period, according to the study.

Quality Systems Inc., an Irvine-based healthcare information technology company, has played a major role in the spread of electronic medical records. Its customers include Nautilus Healthcare Management/Greater Newport Physicians in Newport Beach, Monarch HealthCare in Irvine, MemorialCare Medical Group in Fountain Valley, CareMore Medical Group in Cerritos, and Torrance-based HealthCare Partners Medical Group.

Quality’s NextGen electronic health record is installed in more than 80,000 doctors’ offices nationwide, said Chief Executive Steve Plochocki. Federal healthcare reforms passed in 2010 sought to encourage the adoption of electronic records-keeping as a means of lowering healthcare costs.

Incentives

One outgrowth of the 2010 reforms were the offering of “meaningful use” incentives, giving doctors monetary rewards for meeting certain criteria regarding electronic medical-record systems.

The federal prod seems to be working, Plochocki said.

“There is no question that 2011, the beginning of the stimulus period, marked a growth spurt that should continue for several years,” he said.

About 70% of patients at Nautilus/Greater Newport, an independent practitioner association, are treated by group doctors who use electronic health records, said Debra Spindel, the group’s vice president of physician services.

The group uses software made by NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Quality’s largest division.

“We’ve had that implemented since 2001, a long time for some of our doctors [and] we’ve been rolling it out through the years,” Spindel said.

Integration

At Monarch HealthCare, the group is doing a fully integrated management and EMR implementation for its affiliated doctors, said Bill Farry, the organization’s chief information officer. Monarch has moved toward placing electronic medical records into its primary care doctors’ offices.

“We’ve been at it for about three years,” Farry said. “The last count I took, we have 306 providers in the system.”

That includes full- and part-time doctors, along with what Monarch calls mid-level professionals such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

ACOs

Farry said Monarch’s move to electronic records-keeping has been accelerated by its participation in a federal accountable-care organization project. Such organizations bring doctors, hospitals and insurers together on efforts to cut healthcare costs through greater efficiencies while maintaining quality standards.

The U.S. government “is requiring those in the pioneer program to have a high penetration of [electronic medical records] in that population,” Farry said.

Greater Newport subsidizes its doctors for installing electronic medical records, even prior to meaningful use coming into play.

Spindel said Nautilus/Greater Newport urges physicians to use technology as a means of providing higher-quality healthcare, and that’s lead to quicker adoption of electronic records. The group for years has offered training related to electronic records use to doctors and medical staff and also encourages online patient access to doctors and their practices.

Monarch also has been involved in automating their doctors’ offices for several years prior to the emergence of meaningful use and healthcare reform. The group had proprietary electronic medical record products on board some years before starting to use the NextGen system.

Monarch also helps with the costs of licensing and implementation of the records, which can run up to $20,000 per practice. Other costs include maintenance and usage fees.

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