Electronic Medical Records Due By 2015
Posted by AMS at 28 DEC 8:30 am Share
According to hospital and health care facilities administrators, electronic medical records are essential for improving the safety, quality and efficiency of health care in rural areas. Such electronic medical records are already available at many hospitals in larger cities, but for small rural facilities they are a major expense, especially since many of them struggle financially. Most facilities in rural areas do not have electronic medical records yet, and some administrators worry they will not be able to meet the requirements for government payments starting next year to help support the cost. However, facilities that do not have the electronic records fully in place by 2015 will be penalized by lower payments from Medicare and Medicaid.
According to Mile Bluff Clinic administrator Carol Fronk, the Mauston-based facility will spend more than $2 million to implement the electronic medical records, and it even got broadband Internet in August in order to support them. Still, connections to satellite clinics such as those in Elroy, Lake Delton and Necedah do not have broadband service, and many small towns face the same obstacle. The Memorial Medical Center in Neillsville will spend $1.2 million to install the electronic medical records, nearly twice the amount the hospital made last year, said the facility’s chief executive officer, Scott Polenz.
The CEO added that Memorial lost $250,000 the previous year, but this year they sold the nursing home to prepare for the costs of electronic medical records. Also, according to Karen Myers, vice president of financial services, Stoughton Hospital will spend $1.6 million to launch electronic medical records early next year. Myers added that the Stoughton Hospital is able to move faster than some due to its affiliation with SSM Health Care of Wisconsin. Louis Wenzlow, health information technology director at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative in Sauk City, noted that out of Wisconsin’s 69 rural hospitals, about a dozen will be able to start using the electronic medical records on time and receive substantial reimbursements, another dozen or so hospitals are making significant efforts, while the rest are struggling. Most hospitals have to spend large amounts of money before learning if their expenses qualify for the government help, but the requirements are complicated and many hospitals may fail to receive payments.
