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More practices in Mississippi are embracing the convenience, efficiency and cost savings of online services.

Healthcare facilities have embraced technology when it comes to equipment for diagnostic, surgical and treatment purposes, so why not embrace the wonders of technology when it comes to patient relations?

In Mississippi, online services are increasingly being offered to patients by hospitals and clinics, and patients seem to appreciate the convenience.

Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, P.A., a regional orthopedic group located in Hattiesburg, recently implemented online appointment scheduling, prescription refill requests and online bill payment to help cut back on some of the 700 phone calls a day the practice receives.

“Many of our patients and referring physicians prefer to use our online system rather than call into the office,” said Stephanie McCrary, SBJ executive director. “We’re able to input the prescription refill data into our electronic medical records system. The nurse receives the information immediately and if the prescription is approved, the nurse can fax the prescription to the requested pharmacy from the computer system. As well as being paperless, it is efficient.”

Southern Bone and Joint receives between 100 and 200 e-mails a month now.
Hattiesburg’s Wesley Medical Center began offering online bill paying in February, when 15 patients took advantage of the service. Now, 85 patients pay online each month.

“The patients that use it absolutely love it,” said Cindy Ruff, business office director. “We accept all the credit cards through that site, and electronic checks. We have had no problems. If someone entered an incorrect amount, we’re able to go in and correct it the next day.”

The move to online bill paying was mandated by Wesley’s parent company, Community Health Systems.

Wesley still sends paper bills, but Ruff said that starting in June, bills would have the hospital’s Web site address on them to promote the online bill-paying feature.

Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg also has started offering online services, including e-mail for patient correspondence. FGH also now distributes in-house publications via e-mail instead of printing them.

Southern Bone and Joint has also started converting to electronic medical records, but that’s still one area where healthcare providers seem to be dragging their feet. An editorial column in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star-Tribune recently claimed that roughly two-thirds of hospitals and nine out of 10 doctors rely on paper record-keeping.

Two Minnesota healthcare providers - Mayo Clinic and Park Nicollet Health Services - are considered pioneers in the use of electronic medical records. At Mayo, updated patient records can be accessed instantly by authorized caregivers at more than 16,000 computer terminals located across three facilities. Park Nicollet has electronically connected its six urgent-care centers and 25 community clinics.

A Jackson hospital - Central Mississippi Medical Center - recently became one of the first in the nation to begin using the SafeScan System in an effort to safeguard patients from medication errors.

The handheld interactive devices link wirelessly to the hospital’s pharmacy to ensure and document that patients are given the right medications and doses. Nurses log on by scanning their badges and entering a PIN cod. At the correct time, the nurse retrieves the required medications. Once in the patient’s room, the nurse scans the barcode on the patient’s wristband. The SafeScan maintains real-time information about all medications ordered.

The medications are then scanned and the handheld device displays important information to assure safety and accuration administration. For patients who are receiving injections, the device can even require the nurse to enter the injection site while it displays the last site used. If a physician calls for an injection immediately, SafeScan checks for allergy and drug interactions through a link with specially designed software.

After all the medications are given to the patient, the nurse scans her badge again to complete the transaction.

SafeScan can stop the administration of medication if discrepancies occur.
“In just the last decade, the number of drugs available has grown more than 500 percent and the patients we see are becoming increasingly more complex, medically,” said Webb Willmott, pharmacy director of Central Mississippi Medical Center. “We’ve had to become more sophisticated in our efforts to reduce or eliminate medication errors. By implementing the SafeScan System in our hospital, we have underscored our ongoing commitment to the well-being of the community.”



July 2008

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