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Records-sharing program among the first in the state
Patients come first in data trial
Berkshire Eagle | August 31, 2006
Christopher Marcisz, Berkshire Eagle Staff
NORTH ADAMS — Northern Berkshire Healthcare has begun participating in a records-sharing program designed to increase the quality of care while keeping costs in check.
And while the initiative may revolve around the collection and sharing of electronic data, officials emphasize that their primary focus remains on treatment.
"The vision is to improve patient outcomes," said Richard T. Palmisano II, president and CEO of Northern Berkshire Healthcare. "Ultimately, what we do is about patients."
Palmisano spoke yesterday at the official launch of the Northern Berkshire e-Health Collaborative, one of three pilot programs around the state that will create electronic records of patients' clinical data that can be viewed throughout the health care system.
North County's program has been slowly unveiled since Aug. 14, when patients at Adams Internists were the first to be asked to fill out an "opt in" consent form. Next, more patients of the 55 physicians in North County at 24 practice locations will be asked to participate, with full implementation planned by December.
The system is being launched with the help of funding from the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative and will eventually include a linked system that will allow information to cross from physicians at locations such as Williamstown Medical Associates or Sweet Brook Transitional Care Center to North Adams Regional Hospital or the Visiting Nurse Association.
Dr. Anthony Smeglin, a pulmonologist at Williamstown Medical Associates, said the collaborative will eliminate the "individual silos of information" based on doctors and practices, and organize them "around the patient."
Among the uses are to help monitor and schedule preventive care, provide ready access if patients forget information, and allow caregivers in fast-moving situations, such as an unexpected emergency room visit, to access up-to-date health data to prevent problems caused by insufficient information.
Mitchell Adams, executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and chairman of its board, said that when the program is completed, the state will be at the forefront of efforts to improve care by streamlining the way records are kept and shared.
"We will be far ahead of the rest of the nation," he said.
The collaborative announced that NBH would be one of three pilot programs in March 2005. It was selected out of 36 sites that applied, and joins Newburyport and Brockton as communities that are spearheading the initiative. The three sites will share $50 million in funding for pilot programs over the next three years. The funds come from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Collaborative CEO Micky Tripathi said that, when the initiative is finally in place at the three pilot sites — which will include about 450 physicians in 200 practice locations — it will mark a huge step forward.
"Everyone benefits when more time is spent on patient care than juggling around paperwork," he said.
Palmisano said that, although he believes that the program, which at this point is only medical information and not billing and insurance data, will save money in the long run, any cost estimates would be mere guesses.
"We're doing this because we truly believe it will improve outcomes for patients," he said.
NBH Director of Information Technology David Delano said much of the work has revolved around ensuring patient privacy and security. It begins with the opt-in component, which allows patients to choose not to participate, and includes levels of consent on sensitive issues such as HIV and genetic testing — which require consent each time the information is shared. It also includes system monitoring and data encryption technologies to ensure it is not abused by anyone with access and that even if the system's firewalls are breached, no information will get out.
"I feel very confident we've built a rock-solid security plan here," he said.