An HIT Moment with … John Vaughan, MD, Sharp HealthCare

An HIT Moment with ... is a quick interview with someone we find interesting. John Vaughan, MD is director of medical informatics at Sharp HealthCare of San Diego, CA.

What are Sharp’s most important projects and biggest challenges?

We are engaged in implementation of dbMotion with our associated multi-specialty group, Sharp Rees-Stealy, and will also be engaged in implementing our HIE with our independent physician group at Sharp Community Medical Group. In addition, we have been in discussions with Family Health Centers of San Diego, a private nonprofit community clinic, for collaboration on patient discharge data. 

Also, we are working with the Beacon project of San Diego, facilitated by UCSD. We are in the process of connecting our EDs with the county Emergency Medical Services for near real-time receipt of electrocardiograms in our emergency departments. We are also resolving single sign-on issues for implementation of the Beacon interface.

What technologies are you using to connect with your affiliated practices and to prepare for an accountable care model?

Most of these technologies are involved with the projects I mentioned. In addition, we are also looking at ways in which we can simplify our analytic data analysis across the continuum of care.

What are your thoughts about recent concerns that EHRs encourage copy-and-paste physician documentation?

We have been actively involved in discussions with our health information management supervisors regarding this issue. We will continue to monitor this concern as further regulatory oversight rules are published.

What are some innovative projects you’ve been involved with at Sharp?

We are actively involved in a clinical documentation improvement project. In addition, we will be adding front end speech for improvement of our documentation process over the next several months.

What technologies have made the most positive difference in how your physicians practice?

We are continuing to see improved efficiencies for inpatient care as medical records become more unified. By making the right information available in the right place at the right time, we hope to enhance the overall physician experience.