Baylor Health Care System is announcing its intent to continue to improve the quality of patient care in North Texas through the implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) across the health care system. It is one of thousands of hospitals and eligible professionals across the country officially registering with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to demonstrate its commitment to achieve “meaningful use” of EHRs. This registration now makes Baylor eligible for incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programmes, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“Implementing the EHR has been a top priority for Baylor for the past four years, long before incentive payments were announced,” says David Muntz, chief information officer, Baylor Health Care System. “We know the EHR will further the quality, safety and efficiency of the already nationally recognized care provided in our hospitals.”

A standardized, certified EHR will be fully deployed across the Baylor Health Care System by 2013.

“We have already implemented aspects of the EHR in all of our facilities, investing more than $250 million into this initiative over a ten-year period,” says Muntz. “We have also already been successful at standardizing our processes and technologies based on a certified electronic health record in five of our hospitals and we will continue to roll out the remaining hospitals over the next two years.”

January 2011 marks the first time in our nation's history that hospitals and eligible healthcare providers can register their intent to achieve “meaningful use” of certified EHRs and qualify for incentive payments. This programme is accelerating the transformation of health care nationwide, moving the country closer to interoperable electronic patient records.

“All of our efforts around the EHR have been focused on the patient,” says Muntz. “This technology will mean for patients improved access to their complete health picture, better care coordination andit will help avoid repetitive tests. So we are proud to be part of this vital national initiative.”

Baylor Health Care System is a non-profit faith-based supporting organization providing services to a network of acute care hospitals and related health care entities that provide patient care, medical education, research and community service.