Kodiak residents who want to access their medical records anytime, anywhere, now can, thanks to a state-of-the-art electronic medical record (EMR) system at the Kodiak Community Health Center (KCHC).
GCI ConnectMD installed this EMR service to function over the ConnectMD network, which is the largest medical network in the Pacific Northwest.
The service represents one of the first deployments in Alaska of a Web-based health record system, resulting in lower costs for ongoing patient care at the clinic.
KCHC partnered with GCI to implement this pilot program, making costs relatively cheap for them, KCHC executive director Brenda Friend said.
“It’s pretty exciting for Kodiak. This will provide information in your own language. I was so excited because we got Tagalog and Spanish included in it,” Friend said.
The program includes education about various health conditions.
“Suppose you have a bruise on your toe and you’re a diabetic patient. You can log in and find out what that means,” Friend said. “Once the doctor has signed off, you can log in from home. You can review your X-rays, your lab results, see pictures of them and the explanations.”
Refills for medication can be ordered online, approved by the doctor and sent to the pharmacy.
“You can be in Australia and print your medication list. It’s pretty phenomenal,” Friend said.
Electronic medical records are present in less than a quarter of clinics and physician practices in Alaska.
“ConnectMD’s cost effective solution has enabled us to help those most in need and better serve our local community,” Friend said.
The system is one of the most comprehensive and customizable browser-based clinical information systems in the health care market.
The patient portal allows for patient interaction and education. It is a secure system with controlled information that tracks access to data through its audit trail, and ensures encryption while data is transferred to partners via a secured socket connection.
“Within our first week of use, doctors were seeing 75-85 percent of their patients electronically. It’s innovative, it’s exciting, and thanks to ConnectMD, it’s right here on Kodiak Island for all our patients to use,” Friend said.
“I’m hoping people will understand it and embrace it because it’s bringing us up to a world-class facility,” she said.
Friend is trying to get other clinics in town to participate.
Since beginning operations in 2004, KCHC has grown in response to community need. It offers a full range of primary and preventive health services, as well as discounted fees for the uninsured and underinsured patients, comprehensive case management services and on-site translators.
“Three years ago, when we opened the doors, we were at 200 patients. We’re over 800 a month now,” Friend said.
For more information, visit www.connectmd.com.
Mirror writer Deanna Cooper may be reached via e-mail at dcooper@kodiakdailymirror.com.