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Hospital District Will Rerun Technology Levy in February
The Columbia County Hospital District Board hopes to better educate voters on the urgency of implementing a new electronic medical records system, as well as its benefits.
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oters in the Columbia County Hospital District will again be asked to approve a $795,000 one-year technology levy in February. A levy request for the same amount was on the 2009 November general election ballot, but the measure failed, receiving a ”yes” vote of about 58.5%. 60% approval is required.
If approved, the funding would be received by the District in 2011 and would be used to purchase and install a comprehensive new electronic medical records system throughout the Columbia County Health System (CCHS). It is expected that the levy will add $1.29 per thousand dollar valuation to property tax bills in the District in 2011.
“The need is still there,” says CCHS CEO Charlie Button. “We feel we didn’t do a good enough job educating the public last time about how essential the new system is.”
Button says that a fully electronic medical records system must be up and running by 2015 in order for CCHS to continue to receive full Medicare and Medicaid payments for patients. “If we don’t have an electronic system in place by then, our ability to compete, both from a patient care perspective as well as financially, will be severely threatened,” he says.
Federal stimulus incentives will be available to CCHS if the District quickly implements the new system. However, Button says that if the February measure doesn’t pass, the District will lose access to part of that stimulus funding.
Since every hospital in the country is facing the same deadline, Button says that costs for electronic medical records systems are rapidly increasing and lead times for installation and training are lengthening. “The board is very concerned that the window of opportunity will rapidly close,” he says.
If the measure is approved, CCHS will immediately begin negotiating with potential vendors for a new system. “Even though we won’t begin receiving the funds until April of 2011, we can lock in pricing in 2010 and get on the installation list,” Button says.
The new medical records system will provide a central electronic database that will be accessible by all of CCHS’s facilities and departments. Currently, all patient records throughout CCHS are kept in paper form only. Button points out that the new system will allow the hospital and clinics to provide improved services to patients, particularly in emergencies, when ER personnel will have instant access to patients’ medical information. Instant access of medical information may also reduce duplication of testing, making the healthcare system more efficient.
Button says that the Hospital District Board chose to quickly rerun the levy partly because the issue is still fresh in voters’ minds. “More than 58% of voters in the District understood the importance of this,” he says. “We think we can do a better job of educating many of those who didn’t support it last time.”