Today’s installment of “What is EMR” focuses on a recent incident that illustrates what isn’t EMR. On June 2nd, Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis
suffered a power surge that disrupted their computer systems. During the outage, they were unable to access their electronic medical records and resorted to paper-based workflow instead. Within a few hours, the paperwork had backed up to the point that the hospital had no choice but to start turning away ambulances and diverting patients. Methodist Hospital is not a small-time facility — it has 750 beds and is part of the Clarian Health group. It had not diverted patients in more than 100 years of prior operation, leave it to “EMR” to break that streak. In the equation I mentioned in post #100, (technology + reasonable cost = improved patient outcomes) this particular situation would be classified as a technology & improved patient outcome failure. Thus what Methodist has is NOT EMR but “EMR”. I heard a rumor their internal nickname for the “EMR” is now @$%!@#%.
When I refer to technology, I mean more than just the hardware and software. Technology is a process and workflow of handling patients assisted by electronic devices that HAS contingency plans for events like power failures. If the technology cannot support the needs of the facility in a predictable event like a power failure then as in the words of my 14 year old nephew, “You’re doing it wrong” and/or “Hospital FAIL”.
Ironically, Clarian Health, the group that owns Methodist Hospital, was recognized as a Stage 6 hospital system by HIMSS earlier this year, one of only 42 to earn the honor. Stage 6 is the second highest level that HIMSS designates to hospitals that “have implemented advanced clinical applications that improve patient safety and care delivery outcomes,” according to their press release. If a Stage 6 hospital can be brought to its knees by a power surge, what does that say about the vast majority of hospitals that HIMSS ranks lower than Methodist? It’s a frightening thought. I unfortunately predict a lot more “EMR” related “Hospital FAIL” in our near future.
In the news, see these two stories about the mishap in Indiana.
