South Florida Regional Extension Center and Miami Dade College Team Up
Imagine being on vacation out of town and you are rushed to the emergency room with a severe allergic reaction. No time to think, you just answer the questions as best as you can. You hope you do not forget anything. You feel horrible. As you lay there, the medical staff enters your information into the hospital’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Behind the scenes, at the speed of light, your electronic health record is securely accessed and efficiently alerts the emergency room staff of vital information which dramatically accelerates and improves your emergency treatment and care. Before too long, you begin to get better. The year is 2015 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009 signed into law by President Obama is a reality. During the last 6 years, countless hospitals, doctor’s offices and other medical facilities learned about, chose and implemented an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system while numerous IT experts in conjunction with government representatives at the local, state and national level worked to tie these systems together into a cohesive database network. This massive implementation has provided the information to doctors to diagnose health problems sooner, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care at lower costs.
Back to the present, the hard work to accomplish this goal is staggering to think about it. Many doctors’ offices and hospitals are presently exploring and implementing EHR systems, and at times the choices and options being considered are complex and time consuming. The time investment is great, and present day patients still need to be treated.
The South Florida Regional Extension Center (SFREC) is one of 60 centers nationwide created and funded by the Oï¬ce of National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) to help local physicians and healthcare providers select, successfully implement, and meaningfully use certiï¬ed electronic records to improve the eï¬ciency, quality, and value of healthcare. One of the SFREC’s partners is the Medical Campus of Miami Dade College where students receive an affordable yet excellent education in many popular programs of medical study such as Nursing, Physician Assistant, Massage Therapy and Health Information Management Technology. The SFREC and Miami Dade College, Medical Campus, facilitate ongoing training of health professionals and support staff in an effort to increase public awareness and to facilitate the implementation of the HITECH Act of 2009. Physicians are also eligible to receive federal incentives for adoption of an EHR as long as they meet the criteria of “Meaningful Use.”
The implementation of a national EHR system involves the commitment and teamwork of many individuals and organizations. It is a massive effort that requires skilled leadership, excellent communication and coordination, and valuable information to make the right decisions.
