In the global push to go paperless, the territory’s Healthcare Reform Implementation Task Force has been discussing the need to digitize local patient care records.
In a meeting held at Government House on St. Croix, the task force last week focused on how to jump-start that process and spoke about expanding and updating the necessary technological infrastructure.
The task force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Gregory R. Francis, was formed to implement sections of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act applicable to the territory.
Part of the act includes providing access to a health care exchange, which would provide a marketplace for residents and small businesses to buy health insurance and other health care-related initiatives. The challenge discussed by board members, however, is setting up the necessary technology that would provide greater access to patient information and services.
The recent enactment of the Electronic Health Records Act will also require the territory to "significantly upgrade its health information technology," according to press release from Government House about last week’s meeting. The act mandates the electronic transmittal of patient prescriptions to pharmacists, or "e-prescribing,” and creation of electronic patient files that can be easily shared among providers.
E-prescribing is expected to lower costs and reduce prescription errors for Medicaid beneficiaries, as well as the general population; while the availability of electronic health records will create portability for V.I. patients, who will now have electronic files that can be easily shared among health providers and will improve patient care and healthcare delivery, the release said.
Supporting the discussion was a presentation by Dr. Cora Christian of the V.I. Medical Society, who spoke about the importance of expanding health information technology and how it can help residents to be more proactive about their health.
"Having patients involved in their care increases the chance of the best possible outcomes and helps support a high quality, cost-conscious healthcare system," Christian said in the release.
She said that 44 V.I. doctors have completed the first phase, while five have completed the second phase, of implementation for the Electronic Health Records Act, which includes buying specific "physician-qualified reporting system" software and going live with it.
"I am pleased that the V.I. Medical Society is taking the lead in building relationships critical to advancing the territory’s health information system," Francis said in the release about Christian’s presentation. "Any and all opportunities for a local entity to provide advice, training and support to our medical providers in the community can only serve to strengthen our healthcare system.”
The V.I. Medical Society has partnered with the Ponce School of Medicine on the Regional Extension Center health information technology project.
During the meeting, Task Force Coordinator Taetia Phillips-Dorsett also updated the group on what is being done nationally to improve Health Information Technology (HIT) systems.
According to Phillips-Dorsett, the territory is working to identify states that it can partner with in developing a regional Health Insurance Exchange, the release said.
The next meeting of the task force will be held on Aug. 24 at Government House on St. Thomas.
