When seeking medical attention proper care and treatment is imperative to living a healthy lifestyle. With the hustle and bustle of daily life, keeping track of medical history can become difficult. But what if there was a data management system that kept track of your medical history for you? SciTech Now discovers how a local hospital’s partnership with Health Information Organization (HASA) is changing the game of medical treatment.
Southwest General Hospital has partnered with HASA to implement the Health Information Exchange (HIE) system that interconnects physicians across the San Antonio region, making it easier to treat a patient and keep track of medical history. The technology of the system is highly intelligent and user-friendly. The patient simply creates a profile and inputs information into a shared network which physicians can view.
History such as medical conditions, allergies, prescriptions, surgical procedures and treatments can be seen by the physician regardless of where the patient has been treated. This eliminates the doctors and physicians relying on the patient’s memory of their medical conditions and treatments. Chief Expansion Technology Officer, Dr. Phil Beckett, understands the pivotal role technology can serve in the medical field, especially when patients change physicians.
“Patients, they sometimes don’t remember or don’t know medical conditions, medications, allergies, results of test …” said Beckett.
This information can be detrimental to recovery time, especially after being discharged from emergency care. For both caretakers and patients, understanding and keeping track of the procedures endured as a patient can be confusing when the focus is on recovery. Follow-ups are essential and necessary, meaning accurate information is beneficial to the patient and the physician when reassessing their condition. HASA is simplifying the process of medical record transfers allowing physicians to access information quickly, eliminating time and money, redirecting the focus on patient care. As Medical Director of the emergency department at Southwest General Hospital, Dr. Salvador J. Abrams looks to provide an easy transition between patients and physicians with the use of the HIE system.
“Medical lists gives a physician a lot of information to quickly make a decision … to better take care of their patients that come in, which means better outcomes and lower cost of health care," said Abrams.
Learn more in this episode of SciTech Now airing on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. on KLRN.
