In Springfield, OH, a local physician is currently leading the field when it comes to switching over from paper medical records to electronic medical records (EMR). The switch will be required by all providers of health care by the year 2015.

The physician, Dr. Peter Muir, practices at the Springfield Center Family Medicine. He has not only instituted EMR practices in his own medical office but has actively promoting EMR practices to other providers of health care.

He has pointed out that his own office was utilizing paper charts a few years back and many doctor’s offices are still using them. This means that a new paper data sheet is required for every new patient that enters their care. Updating paper records entails information consolidation and thus detail can be lost.

With the utilization of EMR, all detail is kept intact and readily available. This allows a physician to note trends in patient health, which can be vital to treatment. There is also the ability to perform cross checks for allergies, medications and other diagnoses. This will, in effect, decrease the risk of error and promote greater patient safety. Patients have also expressed enthusiasm for the switchover to EMR. This allows patients to view past results and observe their progress over time.

As of this time, the federal government has been encouraging physicians to start switching over their paper records and e-prescription processes by offering incentive payments. These payments will be available until 2012 – healthcare professionals must adopt EMR systems by then. This means that it must be demonstrated that an existing EMR network must be in place and can share medical record with other members of the healthcare community. This must also include sending prescriptions to pharmacists electronically. In May 20, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology recognized Dr. Muir and one other physician for attaining the steps necessary for EMR use. This means that up to $44,000 could be earned if the EMR system is maintained for five years.

Currently, in Ohio, only seven health care providers have achieved the “meaningful use” status that has been achieved by Dr. Muir’s office. Out of the seven, four are from the Springfield Center Family medicine. Dr. Muir has stated that “It takes a group working together” to achieve this.

It should be noted that while the incentive payment from Medicare helps, it will only cover a portion of the cost involved to make the switch to EMR. An example of this is that the $18,000 incentive earned by the Springfield center only covered about half of the expenses needed to make the transition. But the benefit to patients is considered well worth the expense and effort involved by Dr. Muir and his patients.