Camden health centers will share information
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
By: Taunya English
tenglish@whyy.org
Camden, New Jersey is set to enter the digital age when it comes to communication between hospitals and doctors.
Community grants and state funds will pay for a health information exchange to link the city's three largest medical centers: The Lourdes Health System, Cooper University Hospital and Virtua Camden. Two diagnostic testing labs will also participate.
Cooper Hospital physician Jeff Brenner helped plan the project.
Brenner: You'll be able to log-in to a password protected Web site and see the labs, x-rays, scans, MRI results, discharge summaries, information on their ER visit, all with the press of a button.
Today when Brenner sees a patient just released from the hospital, he often has trouble getting the information he needs to provide good follow-up care. He says many of his patients speak limited English or have poor reading skills. Other patients do not remember or are confused about their ER doctor's instructions.
Brenner: It can take a week for me to collect all of their records, in the meantime, I have have decisions to make.
Planners say the information exchange will launch in early 2010. Setting up and running the network will cost $200,000 in the first year.
