Electronic Health Records Transform Veteran Care

Electronic health records have helped transform care for veterans of the armed services, according to former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health Ken Kizer.

Starting in 1994, it took Kizer only five years, with the use of electronic health records (EHRs), to turn the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) into an efficient government health institution. Kizer said the effects on VHA were immense:

"The measurable results included a reduction in medication errors and patient deaths."

EHRs facilitated a system with fewer errors, costs were reduced, and the VHA saw an increase in the quality of care. Peharps most impressively, during this time the number of patients being served at the VHA doubled.

According to Kizer, EHRs are much preferable to traditional paper records because:

"It allows you to have all the information you need when you're actually face to face with the patient. It allows you to track and monitor performance and what should be done. Instead of sitting there and reciting a bunch of numbers to a patient, you can show them a single coloured graph that shows - for a diabetic, say - all their hemoglobin A1c readings for the last three years. And so much more. It changes the dialogue. It changes the way health care is provided."

The implementation of the EHRs was not without some stress — during the implementation the VHA lost between five to ten percent of its physicians. Kizer concluded the "number one lesson of the VHA is that governments can provide efficient, patient-centered, high-quality care".

How electronic records transformed care for veterans (Globe and Mail)