One of the most important projects we have undertaken as an organization is our transition to an electronic medical record, which includes clinical documentation, medication management, and computerized physician order entry. Called "Paragon", build and implementation of this initiative is expected to take almost three years from its beginning to final transformation. It will require massive efforts on all of our parts to make it happen including significant human resource investment in designing, building, training, and work flow process analysis.
Although it is challenging for all of us to work through this change, the end result benefits will be significant. Some of these are listed below:
Improved legibility of documentation
Increased accessibility of patient charts
Space savings - the ability to store medical record information and other documentation electronically
Meet the government requirements that allow for additional reimbursement
New Physician and Staff Recruitment - Many recruits are looking for practices that utilize electronic systems
Multiple users can use a chart simultaneously
Lab and X-ray results returned automatically
Significant reduction of paper
Drug allergy, therapeutic duplication, and interaction checking
Patient Safety - better information access reduces the gap in communication between care providers
Improved accuracy for coding evaluation and management
As with any major change, there will be ongoing challenges to incorporate this new system into our operations. We hope to make the transition as smooth as possible, but occasional delays may occur while we work through the bugs. We thank you for your support and understanding as we adapt to Paragon, with the awareness that the end result will be more efficient and safer care for you and your family.
