Dateline DFCI
Medical records coming to a computer screen near you
Along with stethoscopes, tongue depressors, and syringes, computers are becoming familiar items in patient exam rooms across the country. At Dana-Farber, this electronic revolution has taken a roll forward with the introduction of computerized medical records for adult cancer care.
Online medical records help keep caregivers on the same electronic page.
Phased in starting last November, the Longitudinal Medical Record (LMR) links systems throughout the Institute, making a patient's medical information available simultaneously to several caregivers in different locations so they can review it and also update the chart. That's especially helpful at a facility like DFCI, where a patient may receive care from several doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and pharmacists during one visit.
The new system is not on the Internet, and access to patients' information is limited to those with specific permission. Records for pediatric patients are expected to go online in a few years as part of a joint project with Children's Hospital Boston.
Although the LMR won't replace paper charts entirely, it represents a major improvement over the existing computerized record system. Among the advantages: Patients no longer have to repeat the same information to multiple caregivers, clinicians and support staff have access to test results and other data, and clinicians can write prescriptions online and print them for patients. The system's safety features include a built-in allergy alert that signals when a drug about to be prescribed might trigger a reaction.
"The rollout of the LMR is going exceptionally well," says Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, senior vice president for patient care services and chief of nursing at Dana-Farber. "This is an extremely important application. It helps our clinicians and researchers in providing and documenting safe and consistent care to our patients and families throughout the course of multiple treatments and across different locations."
