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HAN Makes Strides in Technology Improvements
Terry W Worcester, IT Director
04/05/2007
Health Access
Network (HAN) has made important strides and a significant investment in
the past two years to upgrade computer and phone systems. We have
replaced all the major computerized systems which facilitate operation
of a health care organization in today’s heavily regulated world. Along
with the computer systems upgrade, we’ve also upgraded our entire phone
system.
At the beginning of
2005, HAN had one central computer that held patient billing information
and facilitated some patient scheduling. Some clinics had a few personal
computers or computers terminals connected to the central billing
computer. Other sites still worked completely on paper.
HAN clinics which could exchange information were connected to
each other through
Our phone systems
were as outdated as our computer systems. Some sites had multiple lines
that were set up like home extensions. Other sites had business capable
phone systems, but those were not the same across the sites. The phones
worked differently across each site and had limited ability for
expansion.
To be able to meet
today’s information demands, HAN board and administration made a
decision to improve these systems and develop our own network. We also
developed a computer department to properly manage the investment.
We spent the summer
of 2005 installing a centralized computer system. The centralized
computers (called servers) act like your house’s foundation, in that
everything rests upon it. At
present, seven computers are configured to work together to act as one
big computer. E-mail flows
to and from them, as do patient bills. This system also runs our
accounting systems, personnel management systems, and by the end of this
year will store all patient medical records in electronic format. At the
same time the central computer systems were being installed, HAN was
installing new personal computers in all clinics. By the fall of 2005,
HAN no longer depended upon the hospital for site to site
communications, and we had our own network in place.
For the first time since its inception, each of the HAN clinics
could access the central billing/scheduling computer system and had a
common e-mail platform.
Once this
foundation was in place, HAN began searching for the computer programs
(software) to put all this hardware to use. The primary computer program
chosen provides one location for patient scheduling, billing, visit
information, and demographics. We spent most of 2006 getting all HAN
clinics running on this new software. By the end of 2006, all sites
could now work together from the same set of computer programs.
Also during 2006,
HAN undertook a much needed upgrade of our phone systems. With the phone
system upgrade we had two goals….to develop a system that could be
expanded easily and work the same across all sites.
The phone system selected allowed us to reduce the number of
lines, while increasing the number of calls we could handle. The new
phone system also allows all internal calls to take place over the same
physical lines that the computer network uses.
This allowed us to manage our internal communications without
tying up outside (customer) phone lines. Each site now has the same
phones and they all work the same. Calls can be sent between employees
throughout the organization with the push of a button. The phone system
allowed us to reduce our long distance phone costs.
As an example, if a HAN employee in Millinocket needs to speak to
a patient in
As of April 2007 we
have two clinics using electronic medical records (EMR), and two more
are scheduled to be converted over the next few months. As 2007 rolls
along we will have EMR working at all clinics. While this work is being
done, we are designing tools and working to improve the way we get
patient test results and handle prescription refills. We continue to
seek ways to make the computer investment improve the ability of all HAN
personnel to do their jobs and our service to our patients.
Why all the new
computer and computerized systems, especially Electronic Medical
Records? There are three primary reasons: government regulation,
quality, and efficiency.
Both our Federal
and State governments are moving healthcare to electronic medical
records. There are many ways to use computers in healthcare. Each site
stores their medical records in different ways. One big area for
improvement is a standardized way to store medical information. The
Federal government is working on and moving all of us in healthcare
towards a common storage method. Once this is achieved, it will allow
the flow of critical healthcare information to be easily exchanged with
providers inside and outside of our organization.
Healthcare
providers like HAN are required to report to the government in a
specified format. The only way to accurately report this information is
to have a computer system tailored around that reporting requirement.
One of the key features of the main computer program HAN selected back
in 2006 is its ability to perform this government reporting.
A properly
implemented EMR system reduces the cost of practicing medicine, and
improves our ability to assure quality healthcare services. Once the
system is fully loaded with patient information, any provider within HAN
can see any patient’s history.
Documentation of the patient visit is improved and we can more
easily identify patient care needs such as when it is time for a
physical, immunization, or important test.
The need for paper charts, people managing the charts, and cost
to store the charts will all decrease. The time and people needed to
prepare patient bills, as well as answer questions from insurance
companies and government agencies is reduced.
Our system is able to bill your insurance or government agency
directly. There are no
delays in printing the bills, and no cost to prepare and mail the bills.
With all that said,
are the new computers and systems at HAN the magic bullet that will
solve ever spiraling costs of healthcare? The quick answer is, “No”.
However, the computer systems are an important tool for our
healthcare professionals to use. The results coming from our systems are
directly related to the skill of the people using it, and we are
fortunate to have those skilled people employed at all levels of the
organization.