Local company will oversee electronic medical records in 38 counties

Feb 20, 2010 — Journal Star

Ryan Ori

Feb. 20, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- PEORIA -- A Peoria not-for-profit has been chosen as the satellite office to oversee implementation of electronic medical record-keeping systems in a 38-county region.

Quality Quest for Health, a health care collaborative formed in 2006 and located in Downtown Peoria, is expected to help bring computerized record-keeping to about 200 medical practices throughout a large block of the state in the next two years.

"We are thrilled to be part of this," said Dr. Gail Amundson, CEO of Quality Quest for Health. "This is health care finally hopping on the information highway on behalf of patients. We think patient care will get better and patients will notice. We're thrilled to be part of moving forward."

In early 2009, before taking office, President Barack Obama pledged to have all of America's medical records computerized by 2014. Obama cited the need to eliminate red tape, duplication of medical tests and other inefficiencies.

As part of that effort, 70 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers have been established in the United States.

One center has been set up to cover all of the central Chicago ZIP codes. The other extension center will be based at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Both centers received two-year grants worth about $7.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The DeKalb location will have regional satellite offices in suburban Chicago, central Illinois and southern Illinois. Quality Quest for Health is one of several members of the Illinois consortium that will provide information technology know-how and other resources.

The entire central portion of the state will be covered by the regional office located in Peoria.

Medical practices can learn about applying by calling Quality Quest at 282-8820 or logging on to qualityquest.org.

Amundson anticipates demand will exceed supply and hopes significant grant funding will be extended beyond the initial two years.

Priority will be given to primary-care physicians in practices with 10 clinicians or smaller, federally qualified health care centers and critical access hospitals, Amundson said.

The consortium will provide technical support for choosing a system that has national interoperability for patient record-sharing. IT support also will include connecting and implementing a system, assuring confidentiality of patients' records, training and computer troubleshooting.

That process will require an estimated $10,000 per practice, about 90 percent of which will be covered by the center's grant money. The actual purchase of computers and software will be paid by each clinic or doctor's office.

The idea is for doctors throughout the nation to be able to more readily access a patient's medical records, which will provide greater depth of information on a patient's medical history and medication interactions.

"We can't have information locked in separate silos, unable to talk to each other," Amundson said.

There are financial incentives for medical providers to upgrade their technology.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 designated about $19 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentives for those who demonstrate inter-connectivity.

Starting in 2011, each practice can earn tens of thousands of dollars in breaks during a six-year period.

"The theory is, with those incentive payments, they will have the money needed to make the transition to electronic records," Amundson said. "Making the transition is the most difficult part. Once it's set up, you can give better care. Until you're there, it's a hard change."

Ryan Ori can be reached at 686-3264 or rori@pjstar.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0157-42227918