Tulsa Ahead in National Electronic Medical Records Race

As national health officials announced how doctors and hospitals can get financial help to implement electronic medical records systems, Dr. David Kendrick of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa had to be pleased that Tulsa's efforts had already garnered a $12 million grant and national pilot status.

"It definitely puts us ahead of the game. We're $12 million and a year of planning ahead of the game," he said by telephone from Seattle, where he was meeting with other grant winners.

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In May, Tulsa was selected as one of only 15 communities in the country as sites of pilot initiatives to advance health information technology.

By all accounts, Kendrick accomplished a rarity: He got all major health providers in the region to collaborate toward a common goal and brought Tulsa's effort to the forefront nationally. Among such esteemed sites as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, N.Y., and the Geisinger Clinic in Danville, Pa., the Greater Tulsa Health Access Network received $12 million to move forward with its 11- county electronic health record system.

A regional network linking medical providers could save hundreds of lives lost from adverse drug interactions and millions of dollars in repeated medical testing, Kendrick said. On Tuesday, federal health officials announced what hospitals and doctors throughout the country must do to qualify for financial incentives to adopt electronic medical records systems.

As much as $27 billion in payments is expected to help break down financial barriers for hospitals and physicians who want to adopt electronic health records systems. By 2015, providers will face penalties without such systems in place.

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"One of the major objectives for Greater THAN (the Greater Tulsa Health Access Network) is to enable as many providers in the community as possible to get these payments," Kendrick said. The network will be able to help local hospitals and physicians provide quality metrics reports needed to qualify for the payments, he said.

The rules announcement is the first step in a major transformation of the U.S. health care system that will directly improve patient safety, reduce costs and allow consumers access to their own health information, health officials said.

Electronic medical records can be a "powerful force" for reducing errors, lowering medical costs, raising the quality of care and increasing doctor and patient satisfaction, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during the announcement Tuesday.

"Today, most of us can barely remember the days when every item at the supermarket had a handwritten price sticker or you had to go to the bank to find out how much money you had in your savings account," she said.

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