Avery Cloud, PhD, Chief Information Officer of Oklahoma City's INTEGRIS Health (INTEGRIS), has placed himself as a progressive front-runner in the access of patient data. In a proactive move to meet the IS needs of his physician community, Dr. Cloud solicited input from the group. The overwhelming response was the need for improved access to critical patient information. Taking into account that many INTEGRIS physicians already owned and used Palm Pilot(TM) (Palm) organizers, Dr. Cloud engaged Houston-based Insource Management Group (IMG) to develop a Palm-based solution tailored to INTEGRIS' unique environment.
"I knew we had to do something of real value for our physician community," said Dr. Cloud. In response, IMG experts worked with a team of physicians to design and develop an application that allows physicians to access and view patient information from their personal Palm devices.
This solution, which is currently in use by a test group of physicians, will provide physicians comprehensive, secure and confidential access to critical patient information pulled from multiple systems, including Cerner Classic, Cerner Millennium and HBOC. From a Palm, a physician can view a list of his or her patients. The list is sorted by the patients' location within the INTEGRIS facility, enabling easier and faster rounds. In addition, the physician can pull recent lab results for each patient from the Palm Pilot. In the event of consults, the physician can add patients to their own personal patient list. Similarly, two physicians' lists can be linked when one physician is covering for another. Future phases are targeting the inclusion of radiology results and medication information.
Initially targeted to work with the Palm III and Palm V products, development efforts were expanded to include wireless access to patient information via Palm VII(TM) technology using the Palm.Net(TM) wireless service. With the Palm VII(TM) and Palm.Net(TM) wireless capabilities, INTEGRIS physicians can access patient information from anywhere with complete confidence in data security.
"We know that our success depends upon our ability to supply our physicians with the information they need to make good decisions about patient care," said Stan Hupfeld, Chief Executive Officer of INTEGRIS. "We have great information systems at INTEGRIS, but this project will put key information from those systems into the hands of the physicians who need it, when they need it and where they need it."
INTEGRIS' leading effort was recognized in the Feb. 16, 2000, Houston Chronicle article, "Doctors Turn To Palm Reading" by Mary Sit Duvall. The article details the overwhelming benefits recognized by doctors and patients as a result of the increased implementation of Palm technology into their current hospital systems.
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