PORT ANGELES — Doctors and nurses at Olympic Medical Center soon will have access to patients’ medical records at the click of a mouse.
Five Olympic Medical Center commissioners on Thursday approved a $2.14 million contract with GE Centricity to provide electronic medical records for the Port Angeles hospital and its satellite clinics.
Commissioners Jim Leskinovitch, Arlene Engel, John Beitzel, Jean Hordyk and Jim Cammack voted unanimously to approve the contract with GE Centricity in an 80-minute special meeting.
Commissioner Gary Smith is on leave and did not attend. The seventh position on the board has been vacant since Cindy Witham resigned earlier this month.
Phased implementation of the new records system will take place over two years. The service then will be offered to physician clinics not affiliated with OMC.
“I think the great thing that it does is it allows the information to be available to the physician and other caregivers when they need it, where they need it,” Olympic Medical Center Eric Lewis said after the board meeting.
Since OMC still uses paper records, treatment of a person who comes to the emergency room is hindered if the records are shelved elsewhere.
The technology will also allow OMC to send light-speed information to larger out-of-the-area hospitals.
“The information is obviously well-protected with passwords and other security, but now this information is available to the team of caregivers, which can include the clinic to Olympic Medical Center to a hospital in Seattle,” Lewis said.
Improve quality of care
Electronic records, Lewis said, will improve continuity and teamwork at OMC.
Cammack, who participated through voice conference, pitched the idea of forming an oversight committee to watch the implementation process.
“There are going to be changes,” Cammack said. “I just feel them. And I think all of them are going to cost money.”
Linda Brown, chief technology officer, detailed the contract and answered questions from board members.
OMC is purchasing the software for its outpatient clinics from GE Centricity, which is based in the United Kingdom.
Meditech is the hospital’s inpatient software system.
The commissioners approved two motions on Thursday: one to approve the $2,141,783 contract with GE Centricity, and one to approve a $75,000 Meditech software implementation for in-patients.
Yearly upgrades
The contract with GE Centricity includes yearly upgrades to keep OMC current.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re choosing GE,” Lewis said in the meeting.
Julie Rukstad, chief financial officer, said that the project is risky because of the changing economy.
“But with all of the risks and all of our knowns and unknowns, I think it’s the best decision,” Rukstad said.
“We have to move forward with it. If we don’t move forward at this point, we’ll be in a worse position a year from now.”
Lewis said the ongoing process of switching to electronic medical records has involved physicians, operations staff and technical staff.
“It’s been a very thorough process,” he said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
