More than 2,100 doctors in New York State have done away with paper records and welcomed a new electronic method to keep track of their patients’ health information.
Nearly one out of five New Yorkers are now benefiting from the preventive care treatment from physicians who have adopted the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH) electronic health record. The doctors, including 240 doctors from Queens, have entered into the digital age through the DOHMH’s Primary Care Information Project, an effort to improve quality health care by introducing electronic health records into community-based medical practices.
“You can’t get an answer from paper charts, but you can from electronic records,” said Dr. Amanda Parsons, assistant commissioner of the Primary Care Information Project at the Health Department, which oversees the New York City Regional Electronic Adoption Center for Health (NYC REACH) program. “It’s a way to improve care of patients who were underserved. We want to make sure the neediest patients get the best care.”
Founded in 2005, NYC REACH will help nearly 5,000 physicians go digital. Right now, 20 percent of doctors in New York State are part of the program.
For the 1.5 million patients treated by these doctors, the technology offers customized alerts for overdue preventive screenings and potential drug interactions, as well as best-practice guidelines for treatment.
Dr. Michelle C. Reed, a family medicine physician at MS Family Medicine Healthcare P.C., which has an office in Rosedale and Garden City, L.I. , joined the program and provides her patients with the added feature of online access to their medical histories and prints visit summaries to remind them of at-home instructions.
“Our patients love it,” Reed said. “They like how technology has progressed.”
Reed has 14 computers with the software that cost nearly $10,000 with additional equipment. She said doctors can expect to pay for the license to the software per provider and basic training for about $5,200 and additional fees to scan paper charts.
“The process of going from paper to EMR (Electronic Medical Records) is not easy and is a significant investment that has started to pay off in improved work flow and cash flow efficiencies,” Reed said.
Providers can get step-by-step help implementing electronic health records in their practices, along with an opportunity to qualify for federal incentives of up to $63,750. Physicians interested in joining NYC REACH and anyone who wants to find a doctor who uses the city’s electronic health record can visit www.nycreach.org.
