Challenge of electronic medical records hits rural hospitals hardest

Across the state, hospitals and clinics are struggling to get up to speed with electronic medical records systems, which are all but mandated by federal health care reform.

As MPR News' Elizabeth Stawicki reported yesterday, adopting electronic records is expensive and time consuming. A lack of health IT people hinders progress. "Some estimates put the shortfall nationally at 50,000 workers over the next five years," writes Stawicki. "The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology says a federal $84 million IT workforce program will help fill that gap."

We've reported here at Ground Level (here) that the burden of electronic records adoption is greatest for rural hospitals, which operate on tighter than average margins and often don't have access to capital or IT personnel.

Some rural hospitals have joined networks like Duluth-based SISU to make adoption easier and cheaper. Cook Hospital in Cook, northwest of Duluth, is a longstanding SISU member. Says CEO Al Vogt, "I'm not sure that even God's bank has enough money for electronic medical records. Are we working on it? We're working ourselves crazy."

We'll post more on issues facing rural health care providers in the coming weeks, including profiles of people making a difference and a video about a central Minnesota doctor who only takes cash (and the occasional pie as a tip).

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