Annual Report 2003 - 2004
One Nation
To Share Knowledge
More than 25,000 patients are currently using PAMFOnline - but this service is just one way the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) takes advantage of the latest information technologies to integrate and improve quality of care. PAMF's chief medical information officer, Dr. Paul Tang, has been active in the medical informatics field for more than two decades. When he joined PAMF in 1998, he was instrumental in converting the Palo Alto Division's paper-based medical records system to one based entirely on electronic health records (EHRs).
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the congressionally chartered National Academy of Sciences, released a report estimating that nearly 100,000 inpatient deaths are caused each year as a result of medical errors. Since then, there has been a growing sense of urgency to get health practitioners nationwide to adopt EHRs to help prevent medical errors, particularly those that involve medications. "Among its many benefits, the EHR generates electronic prescriptions that are transmitted directly to the pharmacy, preventing errors that can occur when a handwritten prescription is hard to read," Dr. Tang said, "and it automatically alerts doctors if they have prescribed two drugs that could cause harmful interactions."
In recent years, Dr. Tang has been helping to guide national policy toward EHR adoption. He chaired the IOM's Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety, which issued a report in November 2003 calling for a national health information infrastructure to share information electronically. Two months later, President Bush outlined a plan in his State of the Union Address to ensure that most Americans have EHRs within the next 10 years. Dr. Tang was subsequently invited by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson to participate in an information technology summit in Washington, D.C. The goals: to make widespread adoption of EHRs a national priority, and to explore how financial incentives can help encourage providers to invest in and use EHR systems. "By providing physicians and patients with instant access to the information they need to make optimal decisions, we can raise the bar and make patient safety the new standard of care," said Dr. Tang. "We are also increasing public awareness that PAMF is at the forefront of this field."
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