DUBLIN, OH – Many hospitals struggle to implement information technology – to gain clinician buy-in, retrofit infrastructure and thoroughly retrain staff.Not a problem at Dublin Methodist Hospital.
The paperless hospital opened last month, but the integration of information technology has been in planning for three years. About 20 percent of the $150 million price tag for the 94-bed facility was designated for IT implementation.
“It’s a natural progression of technology,” said Michael Krouse, senior vice president and CIO for OhioHealth, a not-for-profit integrated delivery system that operates 15 hospitals and a variety of other provider settings in 46 counties in central Ohio.
Dublin Methodist has a variety of clinical applications that integrate seamlessly with financial and administrative software. For example, the facility was designed with an eye toward patient flow – a patient is met by a greeter, escorted to a kiosk to register and then brought to the area where he/she needs to be, Krouse said.
“In the first week, the responses we’re getting is that patients feel as if everyone knows them and knows why they’re there,” he said.
The hospital primarily uses clinical applications from the McKesson Corp., and physicians, nurses and other medical staff have easy online access to patient information when and where it’s needed. One-step sign-ons are achieved by the use of software from Imprivata Inc. of Lexington, Mass.
Additionally, a centralized scheduling system enables more efficient use of equipment, staff time and facilities, while a surgical management system aids in automating operating room processes.
Using McKesson’s RelayHealth network, the hospital can electronically process patient bills and insurance claims, while enabling patients to review their statements and manage their accounts online. Applications work with services from HTP Inc., a Columbus, Ohio-based company that offers products to improve revenue cycle performance.
“It helps, on the front end, to be able to convey to patients whether or not they are covered and whether there are copays,” Krouse said. “It enables us to get the dollars on the front end, and you can be much smarter about handling the financial aspect of treating patients.”
Krouse said the Dublin facility will provide a chance to try out technology that eventually will appear in other OhioHealth facilities.
“Every one of our facilities will move toward the Dublin model, and many of them are close to it now,” he said.