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Administrator pushes for digitizing health records: Head of Veterans Health Administration speaks at university(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 3--Digitizing health records is the single most important factor to improving health care in the next 10 years. So said Dr. Jonathan Perlin, the head of the federal Veterans Health Administration. "We certainly need to have electronic health records in all the settings where we promote patient care," said Perlin, undersecretary for health and chief executive officer of the VHA, a division of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. As head of VHA, Perlin oversees a budget of $31 billion, 198,500 employees and the health care of 5.3 million patients. Perlin spoke Friday at the WVU Health Sciences Center. His presentation was part of the Department of Medicine's Ground Rounds, which are frequent presentations from guests who speak about medical topics that may be important to West Virginians' health, WVU School of Medicine Dean Dr. John Prescott said. "It is truly a topic of great interest for us as a medical school and for us as a state," Prescott said. "He's in charge of the care for our veterans across the United States." Prescott said health care for veterans is improving. "These are all good things to hear," he said. When veterans scattered after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, not a single one lost their medical records, even as part of the veterans center lay under water. While one out of every seven hospitalizations are a result of inaccessible health records, Perlin said, "Not one vet under our care was injured or harmed" in the wake of the hurricane. Those records were all accessible anywhere in the United States, Perlin said. He demonstrated the system's capabilities, using real (but anonymous) patients' medical information. At the click of a button, Perlin could access cardiograms, X-rays, vital signs from recent doctor appointments, and correlate changes in blood pressure to changes in a patient's weight. "Unfortunately, most of the world is still paper-based," Perlin said, as is the United States. Gov. Joe Manchin announced an initiative to study the use of electronic health-record technology in his 2005 State of the State address, naming Dr. Julian Bailes, WVU professor and chair of the neurology department, to oversee the working group. "I'm very excited about what you all are doing here," Perlin said. He also addressed other healthcare issues, including obesity. The annual number of deaths due to tobacco-related illness was expected to be surpassed by obesity-related deaths, Perlin said. "This scourge didn't start at the beginning of time," he said. "It started in 1980." Two out of every seven people hoping to enlist in the military are rejected, "not because they're unfit, but because they're deemed too unfit to get fit," Perlin said. |