There are many quality measures important to Texas Tech Physicians, but some cross multiple boundaries and never seem to get resolved. Duplicate medical records is a quality issue that is dangerous for patient care. Operationally, it complicates everything from scheduling to billing. The conversion to electronic health records (EHR) has made this problem even more evident to clinics. But good news is on the way.
After determining that there seemed to be a significant number of duplicate medical records numbers being generated by PNS and UMC ancillary services, I spoke with David Allison, CEO UMC Health System, and asked for assistance in resolving this issue for TTP-Pediatrics. He listened carefully to the issue and put me in contact with Bill Eubanks, from UMC’s I.T. department, to see if a solution could be found. This issue was not news to Mr. Eubanks and he was already on the way to a permanent solution. The issue of duplicate medical records is a result of the PNS, TTUHSC and UMC IDX systems not communicating with one another regarding registration information and human error.
By the end of summer, UMC will introduce a new external EMPI (master patient index) in which all registration data will be stored centrally and shared by all entities. This will greatly reduce the number of duplicate medical records because if they are already in the system, you can find them. We will still have to be diligent in cleaning up the duplicate numbers in the system, but things will improve.
To Mr. Eubanks, thank you for helping resolve this major quality issue and to the rest of us that will benefit operationally from the improvement.
[caption id="attachment_434" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Diagram of the new EHR process with an EPMI."]
[caption id="attachment_437" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Diagram of the current EHR process."]
