Chris Owens is seeking to help his practice achieve a new level of customer care through the use of electronic health records (EHR).

As practice manager for Dr. Douglas Harrington at Harrington Obstetrics and Gynecological in Pekin, Chris is overseeing the practice's transition from paper to EHR.

Chris is working with Katie Heskett, practice liaison from the central satellite office of the Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (ILHITREC) located at Quality Quest for Health. Katie and the IL-HITREC team offer the opportunity to make this transition a smooth and efficient one.

Katie functions as a practice liaison for primary care practices in central Illinois that are taking part in the federally subsidized EHR assistance provided through IL-HITREC. Katie works with practice managers, clinic staff, billing representatives, and physicians to successfully plan, coordinate, and implement an EHR. Katie is charged with leveraging her own skill set and helping each of her practices make the transition and ensure they are meeting federal efficacy guidelines.

Harrington OB / GYN specializes in women's reproductive health issues and procedures. The practice routinely serves about 1200 patients per month from Tazewell and Peoria county

In addition to Dr. Harrington, the medical staff includes two mid-level providers, six nurses and a support staff of around 15. Typical services offered at the Harrington office include sonogram services, midwifery, yearly exams, pre-conception planning, post-partum care, and other related procedures.

Over the years, the Harrington office has been on the cutting edge of service in the area. However, fears about workflow disruption and ease of use have delayed efforts to modernize their health records system. Chris knew that implementing a new system would require a well-conceived plan to avoid workflow disruption and ease the worries of staff members whose work would now be routed through a computerized system rather than a series of paper charts.

"There has been hesitancy because it is a change" Chris says. However, Chris adds the new system will reduce errors throughout the treatment process and will actually make things more efficient.

"I think it will be more efficient because right now we have some nurses that do have to pull double duty," he says of the nurses who spend much of their time transcribing written notes for use within the medical record. The new system means this step will no longer be necessary.

Like many practices, Harrington does not have a dedicated technology staff to handle the EHR changeover. To help make this transition as seamless as possible, Chris enlisted the help of the IL-HITREC central satellite office.

"Katie's been helping us with seeing the big picture and what questions to ask vendors (during the selection process), and also with the workflow analysis." Ultimately, Chris views Katie as having the knowledge and experience to implement the type of plan that keeps the practice moving forward and helps prevent costly or time consuming mistakes.

Katie helped the practice with another important step of assembling an in-house transition team to participate in the vendor review and selection process. This small team is made up of members throughout the office, each bringing a unique work perspective that helps the team envision how each product may affect daily work.

"It was driven by Katie, who had asked us to put together a core team. I took each of the department heads and asked them to be part of our team." The diverse makeup of the team has helped to increase buy-in from the office workers and also allowed Chris to address what he perceived as a communication gap.

For Chris, Katie's help has been invaluable in making this transition a smooth process and "laid a roadmap for us to follow", helping the practice avoid potential delays or difficulties.

Physician practices within central Illinois interested in receiving similar assistance with EHR can contact the IL-HITREC central satellite office or log on to the IL-HITREC website. (http://www.ilhitrec.org/ilhitrec/)

At a Glance:
Harrington Obstetrics and Gynecological
Specializing in Women's Reproductive Health
2709 Broadway Rd
Pekin, IL 61554
Phone: 309-353-3330
Physician: Dr. Douglas Harrington
Practice manager: Chris Owens
Currently working with Katie Heskett as part of the ILHITREC satellite office at Quality Quest for Health.