HCHC considers system upgrade in hopes of attracting physicians

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County Health Center has announced some upcoming changes that, according to HCHC CEO Robb Gardner, may be a major attraction to medical providers considering career opportunities at the health center.

During Tuesday?s HCHC Board of Trustees meeting, the board discussed the possibility of switching to a new electronic health records system specifically for the emergency department, which Gardner says may revolutionize the way HCHC?s emergency department physicians document the various medical procedures and ailments they treat on a daily basis.

The new electronic records system being considered is called The T-Systems, and is currently used in roughly 2,000 emergency departments nationwide. This new system would provide physicians with computer-assisted coding software, and add increased accuracy in medical coding and service reports.

Currently, HCHC?s emergency department physicians do not use computerized documentation. Instead, these physicians are using dictation, which has been a standard practice for emergency department physicians for many years. Despite its long-term use, this process of documentation can pose a higher chance of information loss.

?ER physician recruitment and retention is something that we have been working on for a long time now, and HCHC believes that this new system could be a big recruitment tool,? said Gardner. ?The system is well-liked by ER physicians because it is geared toward the way they file reports.?

The HCHC Board of Trustees also believes this system upgrade could free-up physicians that are otherwise pressed for time in a department that is often defined by its fast-paced and varying nature.

Research on this new system is still being performed, and Gardner warned the board that such an upgrade is likely going to be costly. However, he believes that the benefits of a system upgrade would outweigh cost and ultimately improve the quality of HCHC?s patient care.

While the board only discussed the possibility of a new electronic records system, in a unanimous vote of approval, the board moved to partner with Great River Health Systems for use of their pathology services and Health Enterprises Medical Laboratory, based out of Newton, for reference lab services.

Currently, only about seven percent of reference lab tests are sent outside of HCHC?s facilities. Pathology lab tests consist primarily of tissue sample that need to be tested for a variety of diseases or ailments.

These new partnerships are being pursued primarily for their financial benefits, but also to form partnerships with other healthcare entities that are in closer proximity to HCHC.

According to Gardner, HCHC will begin sending tests to these different entities starting July 1.

In other major news, HCHC?s board of trustees voted to name HCHC?s training center after the late Danny Eversmeyer, who died on Jan. 29, 2015.

An EMT at HCHC for many years, Eversmeyer began his career at HCHC in 1997 and helped form HCHC?s training center, where he assisted in implementing various training programs for HCHC EMTs and other staff.

Today, HCHC continues to use the training center for various programs, the most recent being medical trainings held during the Ebola crisis earlier this year.

?Danny was a key player in starting the training center, and we have been discussing how HCHC?s staff could best recognize Danny for all he has done,? said Gardner. ?Danny brought so much to this organization and to this community, so we thought naming the training center in honor of him was a way we could honor his memory.?

While it is not common practice to bestow present or former employees and friends of HCHC with such a high honor, the board felt that due to such a strong push from staff to pursue the memorial naming, it was appropriate in this circumstance.

?There are so many people that have given a lot to this health center over the years, but I think because this is something the EMT staff and other hospital staff have strongly suggested to us, then I think it?s something we should pursue,? said board member Ron Clouse.

At this time, it is unknown when the training center?s name will officially be changed.

The Henry County Health Center?s Board of Trustees will meet again on Tuesday, May 19, at noon in the HCHC?s Board Room.