From Tiffin to Coldwater, from Pauling to Upper Sandusky, orthopedic patients in Northwest Ohio are never far from one of the offices of the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio (OIO). But the more important point is this: No matter which office provides care, the distance between the patient and that patient’s records is essentially zero.
The idea that a search could save a life sounds like just that – an idea. Yet that dream has now become a reality. People today can now ask a question and get results almost instantaneously. But it wasn’t always that way.
Theorists like Vannevar Bush were dreaming up ways of creating an associative memory storage and virtual retrieval system as far back as the 1940s. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s that the first search engine got off the ground.
On any given day, medical professionals and patients alike may search the internet, use social media, or order a meal using their smartphone. The remarkable technologies behind those daily activities surely extend to healthcare information — right?
There’s no doubt that PRISMA, the eClinicalWorks health information search engine, is a powerful tool for obtaining a complete, searchable view of patient health histories. Still, many practices may be wondering how it fits into their workflows to change how they practice medicine.
Zeid Medical Group runs women’s health and pediatric clinics in Tyler and Longview, Texas, that serve about 1,000 patients each month. Like any busy medical practice today, they see a mix of established and new patients who come from all walks of life and have medical histories that range from simple to complex.
Your providers thrive when they have access to the latest information on health, illness, and treatments. A 2006 study by the American Medical Informatics Association concluded that when physicians need good information they seek out gold-standard sources, including high-quality medical journals and reputable websites that specialize in their area of expertise.