Comments on: HIStalk Interviews Ferdinand Velasco MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, Texas Health Resources

By: Al Borges MD

Al Borges MD — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:37:17 +0000

Blumenthal as a “practicing physician”? I don’t think so. My original letter-to-the-editor explaining the scoop on Blumenthal went to Histalk purgatory somewhere…

By: Ferdinand Velasco

Ferdinand Velasco — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:22:46 +0000

My comments about the EHR implementation at Baylor were not as exact as I had intended. The reference to “benefits to that” referred to their implementation strategy of deploying EHR first and CPOE later. By focusing initially on the installation of a clinical nursing documentation system and medication management system, this approach ensures that a sound foundation and technology infrastructure are in place prior to tackling CPOE.

What the HIT Policy Committee has done, by including CPOE so early (2011) in the draft meaningful use matrix, is apply pressure to accelerate the implementation of CPOE.

I apologize if this caused any misunderstanding and felt it important to clarify. I have the highest regard for the IT staff at Baylor and for all health systems deploying this important technology.

By: Zoran Draganic

Zoran Draganic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:46:22 +0000

This is great interview and I am not surprised! I had opportunity to work with Dr. Velasco and I was always amazed with his ideas and his knowledge of cutting edge technology solutions! Each meeting with Dr. Velasco turns into an educational session. Great leader with a right vision. Good luck Dr. V and THR!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:39:19 +0000

How has the go-live impacted nurse staffing and your patient care delivery model? These go-lives require so many RN super-users to ensure some transition not only from physician perspective but from bed-side care. Experinence has shown that strategic nurse staffing contingencies are required. How was this been addressed?

By: Ferdinand Velasco

Ferdinand Velasco — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:10:20 +0000

Many thanks to the folks who have left comments regarding my conversation with Mr. HISTalk.

In reviewing my comments, I realized that I neglected to express my appreciation for the dedicated men and women at our hospitals and on our team that have made our EHR initiative a success at Texas Health. It is an honor and privilege to be able to work with them.

Kevin, regarding paper records, we have been scanning these for years prior to our EHR implementation and have continued to digitize the few remaining physical documents (external records, consent forms) that still make it to the chart. We use a third party document management system, StreamlineHealth, which is interfaced with Epic. Our users are able to view the scanned documents from links within the Epic system.

This has proven to be a useful bridge to transition our clinicians from a paper medical record to an electronic paradigm. Our HIM directors are very confident in the technology and do not store the original paper documents long term.