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April 18, 2004BENZIE COUNTY: Center cuts paper, goes electronicThere are computers in each exam roomByRecord-Eagle staff writer BENZONIA - Within seconds, Dr. Richard Nielsen can have a patient's prescription on its way to any pharmacist in Benzie County. And they don't have to try and read his handwriting. Crystal Lake Health Center, with offices in Frankfort, Benzonia, Bear Lake and Interlochen, has spent the last year bringing online a new A4 Healthmatics electronic medical record (EMR) system that is essentially paperless - no paper charts, no paper files and no unrecognizable handwritten prescriptions. "We thought it would increase everyone's productivity. We had two people alone pulling files full time," said Nielsen, president of Crystal Lake clinic, who estimates that 13,000 of Benzie County's 17,000 residents are patients in the Crystal Lake Health Center system. "More importantly, the quality and access of care is better. Patients can go to any site and in a second we can access their records electronically." Crystal Lake now has computers in each exam room at every site where doctors, at work or even on-call from home, can immediately pull up a patient's history, test results and tests that may need to be done. The system cost $250,000, which included the purchase of nearly 50 computers to run the software, but Crystal Lake Administrator Deb Gatrell estimates that the clinic has saved $80,000 in the last year alone, primarily through cutting transcription costs. Nielsen said he knows of only a handful of health clinics in southeast Michigan using the systems, but none in northern Michigan. The system -which is backed up daily to secure records - allows Crystal Lake to offer more patient safety, an issue that is becoming a trend in health care nationally, said Nielsen. "There are a number of safety issues we add with this system. When you are writing the prescription (electronically) you are getting the drug you should get, the right doses and it flags drug interactions that might be a concern. It is a safety feature that most doctors don't have." Eldee Swanson has been going to Crystal Lake's office in Benzonia for nearly 10 years. He said having all that information at doctors' fingertips gives him a greater sense of security. "It does make you feel a little safer to know they are keeping track of all your information and can have it so fast," said the 75-year-old Honor resident. Nielsen said several other medical officials around northern Michigan have visited the clinics to see the system up close, although he senses there remains resistance by some to take the technological step. "I think that it is a mistake for physicians not to do this," said Nielsen, who never used a computer before the new system was in place. "Some of them are afraid to spend the money or learn the technology, but this is the way it is going to be in the future."
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