City using electronic health records

As New York City works towards a new and improved health care system, state-of-the-art electronic health record technology has already started to benefit patients.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden recently unveiled the electronic health records (EHRs), which are already being used by 200 city primary-care providers. It has been estimated that 200,000 New Yorkers are already benefiting from it.
“Electronic health records that put prevention first are a necessary but not sufficient step to fix our ailing health care system,” Bloomberg said. “Today’s milestone of improved health care for 200,000 New Yorkers through EHRs puts us well on our way to delivering this innovative, life-saving technology to more than one million people in the city by the end of the year.”
The newly developed software, which focuses on prevention, was created by the Health Department’s Primary Care information Project and the firm eClinical Works. Subsidized packages containing software licenses, onsite training, data interfaces and maintenance and support for two years are offered.
In order for a practice to be eligible, more than 30 percent of their patients have to be Medicaid and uninsured.
“This system gives doctors the right information at the right time so they can make the right decisions and save lives,” Frieden said. “By giving doctors and patients the tools to better manage conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, we can prevent thousands of strokes, heart attacks and early deaths.”
The features of EHRs include having the history, lab results and current medications of a patient on a single electronic interface, assisting with sending patient reminders, tracking potentially adverse prescription interactions, providing referrals, and tracking medication use, among other features.
By the end of this year, the city hopes to have EHR systems in the offices of more than 1,000 health care providers.