The heart of Dixie may beat easier with the help of electronic medical records.
Gov. Bob Riley announced last week that Alabama was awarded $10.5 million in federal funding to build an Electronic Health Record system.
"Electronic health records make our health care system more efficient and improve care patients receive," Riley said in a press release. "Since 2007, the Alabama Medicaid Agency has led a broad-based effort to create a statewide electronic health information system that links Medicaid, state health agencies, health care providers and private payers. With this new funding, we will continue moving forward to build an electronic system that supports all health care providers, increases efficiency and maintains high quality for patients."
The award was part of President Barack Obama's $385 million federal stimulus funds given to states to advance the use of electronic health records in doctor's offices and hospitals.
Obama turned down the call for further debate on the issue of health care legislation in his address to the nation in his speech to the joint session of Congress.
"I don't see how another year of negotiations would help," Obama said in a press release. "Moreover, the insurance companies aren't starting over. For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or more."
An EHR is a collection of health information for patients. It is a record in digital format that can be shared through a network of connecting health care systems.
"Every patient has a unique medical record," said Shannon Houser, associate professor at UAB. "In most hospitals we are using just paper records in the past decades, but in recent years we have started an electronic format."
The information can be obtained electronically, like e-mails, among doctors and hospitals instead of exchanging hard copies of patient records.
"It gives doctors the information they need to make a decision," said Robin Rawlf, director of communications for Alabama Medicaid Agency. "It also helps reduce duplication of records and provides information back to organizations like Medicaid."
Alabama's venture into transforming health care, called Together for Quality, was a pilot project that tested the use of EHRs to improve care for Medicaid patients.
"Because Alabama's Medicaid office and 'Together for Quality' project performed so well," said Todd Stacy, Alabama's deputy press secretary, "we were able to receive this money and put it back into health care quality assurance."
The stimulus money will go toward more than just implementing a new electronic health record system. It will also go toward the planning of the system and training health care employees.
"The first part of the money is to plan the system that will be submitted to the federal government," Rawlf said. "Once the government approves it, we will begin building the system and educating people to adjust to the system."
The $10.5 million will be provided by the government over a four-year agreement with 100 percent federal funding in the current fiscal year and 30 percent federal funding in the fourth year of the agreement.
Rawlf said the federal funding decreases in the agreement as the years go on because of the recession, and it is tailored to the current struggling economy.
"It is designed to jumpstart the economy quickly," Rawlf said. "That is why the incentives are designed that way."
Obama calls for lawmakers to take action on the health care issue.
"Everything there is to say about health care has been said," Obama said in a press release. "And just about everyone has said it."
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