Electronic Records Model Deemed Success
A Central Massachusetts pilot program to help hospitals, nursing homes and home care organizations share clinical information about patients moving between settings shows promise as a national model, according to the Massachusetts eHealth Institute, which organized the program.
Sixteen Worcester County health care organizations took part in the program, which received $1.7 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Over a four-week period, the organizations transferred several hundred patients. The electronic records that were passed from one group to another included more than 300 pieces of information, including medications lists, treatment plans and advance directives. The paper transfer form typically used throughout Massachusetts has fewer than 100 data elements.
Facilities receiving patients reported that they found the new data system more valuable, and 96 percent of the pilot sites said they will continue to use the system.
The Massachusetts eHealth Institute is a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
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