On Wednesday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH ) Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden announced that the City has appropriated $27 million to help provide 1,000 New York City Doctors with electronic health records (EHR) systems by 2008. The City's contribution is being matched by an additional $13 million contributed by the community health centers participating in the program.

The principle benefits of EHRs are:

• Doctors can seamlessly communicate with other electronic information systems at hospitals and laboratories, ensuring continuity of care.
  
  
• EHRs provide more information to doctors on patients' medical history and the information is more secure than paper records.
  
  
• EHRs decrease errors in writing prescriptions and are valuable tool in evaluating the effectiveness of medical care.
  
  
• EHRs will provide the Department of Health with clearer and faster data on emerging pubic health problems
  
  
• EHRs will improve preventive care at community health clinics.

"A modern electronic health records system integrates patient information, the latest medical research, and decision support tools within a single system," said Neil Calman, MD, President and CEO of the Institute for Urban Family Health. "In addition to having access to past patient visits at their fingertips, doctors and nurses can use it to order medications, referrals, and laboratory tests, and to receive electronic information from pharmacists and laboratories. We have also found that these systems can actually improve communication between patients and providers and help us understand and address health disparities."

More information:

Mayor Bloomberg and Health Commissioner Frieden Announce that 1,000 New York City Doctors Will Get Electronic Health Records Systems
KW