Gannett entered a new digital phase upon its transition to an Electronic Health Record system earlier this year. Symbolic of the change is the large storage space that currently sits idle and empty — the 20,000 student records it previously held having been removed after the transition.

The EHR, first implemented on July 13, allows for paperless delivery of health records, unlike the previous Practice Management System. Physicians at Gannett now carry with them Fujitsu tablets, portable electronic writing devices, and nurses carry wireless laptop notebooks, all in lieu of the paper records and folders that characterized the pre-EHR era.

During the spring of 2009, a panel was formed at Gannett in order to narrow down a list of potential server software to support its conversion to an EHR system. This panel was represented by all departments at Gannett: administration, billing, reporting, physicians, nursing, psychiatry, counseling, physical training, scheduling and various ancillary departments.

After conducting a Request for Proposal in the spring, in which the panel extensively evaluated the different software vendors to support Gannett’s EHR, the panel chose Point and Click, which is currently being used by many other universities, such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University and Columbia University.

The Point and Click server’s specialization in college health, in areas such as immunization records, which are necessary in order to attend college was one of the key appealing factors that led to Gannet’s decision. As the leading vendor in college health marketing, it also offers interface with other university systems, thereby facilitating access to health records. Point and Click is also certified by the Certification Commission of Health Information Technology, a strong selling point to the Gannett panel.

Sharon Dittman, associate director for communications at Gannett, believes the EHR system was essential to promoting exceptional service at Gannett. “This was a wonderful opportunity to fulfill a primary goal of Gannett — provision of integrated medical, counseling and health promotion services. It enhances collaboration between all departments here at Gannett, supporting seamless care for students. It also makes it easier for a student to have access to his or her own health records.”

The changeover to an EHR system was just part of a major slew of changes that began early in 2008.

Preceding the implementation of EHR was the conversion of Gannett’s radiology department in February last year, when X-Rays (once processed on film) transitioned to digital technology, making them more accessible to health care providers. The electronic availability of X-Rays via digital radiography is now just one of the health services integrated into the newly implemented EHR system at Gannett.

In addition to increased access to health records, students will now be able to cancel current appointments, take pre-appointment surveys and view billing records, information regarding past appointments and lab results (should the doctor choose to upload it) online via MyGannett. Scheduling appointments online, however, is not yet permitted — it is still under consideration as a future feature.

“Implementing EHR here at it is still under consideration as a future feature.

“Implementing EHR here at Gannett this year has been an incredibly challenging, but invigorating, process for the entire staff. There has certainly been a lot of frustration; but overall, it has had a positive impact,” said Chris Payne, manager of administrative operations.

According to Payne, the entire staff had to be retrained as they were forced to rethink and redesign every aspect of their job in someway.

“The Gannett staff has been incredibly dedicated, tackling both the H1N1 pandemic and an unprecedented change with the EHR reforms. I am amazed by the amount of work our staff was able to put into this, considering how busy they have been with the pandemic,” he added.

I.T. Manager Wendy Busch said that the success of an EHR system is well-documented, improving efficiency, the quality of care and the speed of health information transmission, such as prescriptions and medical records.

“It’s been a formidable transition, and things tend to get worse before they get better. But everybody here sees the potential for it to improve and streamline the quality of health care at Cornell,” Busch said.

The new system, however, is not perfect, according to Payne, and there are still challenges that need to be overcome.

For instance, because Point and Click is focused on college health, it is not optimized to handle complicated billing. Since Gannett provides episodic care to faculty and staff, the server does not yet adequately support billing.

Nonetheless, the support for this massive change is not just staff-wide. After working at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Evan Caruso ’11 believes that the EHR system at Gannett will greatly reduce the number of mistakes made by doctors.

“From my experience working at Dartmouth, where an electronic system is already in-place, I spoke to physicians there who said that they’ve significantly reduced the number of prescription errors made by converting to these use of EHR. It’s amazing how many mistakes are made because people can’t read a physician’s handwriting,” Caruso said.

The EHR system now inuse at Gannett is still at an early stage of implementation, and it’s full benefits will not be felt for some time, according to Payne.

“Electronic health records and integrating of the health care system is an industry priority right now,” he added. “There has been phenomenal support from President [David] Skorton, who is a physician himself, and the entire Gannett staff — they have really been central to the implementation of this new electronic system.”