"Rural Iowa Redesign of Care Delivery with Electronic Health Record (EHR) Function"
Mercy North Iowa and Trinity Health Subcontract for Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2007
Role: Doug Wakefield, Co-Investigator

Abstract: The project has four major goals: 1) To improve the quality of patient care and increase patient safety to reach the top quartile of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) indicators, 2) To improve patient care workflow processes, 3) To enhance organizational culture and safety among the project partners, and 4) To generate significant organizational learning about the effectiveness of the EHR system and the implementation process. The University of Iowa Department of Health Management and Policy and the University of Missouri's Center for Health Care Quality will conduct the project evaluation using Mercy Medical Center - Clinton in Clinton, Iowa as the control site. Evaluation measurements will include: a) reported errors (including medication errors) and near misses; b) CMS/JCAHO quality measures; c) use of computerized knowledge data bases and other new information tools; d) patient satisfaction scores; and e) physician/clinician/staff assessment of the implementation process and how the electronic health record system has improved the quality and safety of patient care, communication among physicians, other clinical staff and patients; and daily work life.