GINGRICH VISITS SILVER CROSS URGING HOSPITALS TO LINK MEDICAL RECORDS
The Plainfield Sun
August 13, 2008
By TONY GRAF

JOLIET -- In the 1990s, Newt Gingrich galvanized Capitol Hill and pursued sweeping changes in America. On Tuesday, he toured the Silver Cross Hospital emergency department, emphasizing the hospital's role in a different transformation.

The former speaker of the House visited the Hedges Clinic in Frankfort and then Silver Cross in Joliet. He observed how electronic medical records can link several physicians, caring for the same patient, at different times and different points along the care spectrum.

"I think what you're doing -- in beginning to reach out to doctors and integrating the whole community -- is really, really important," Gingrich told an audience at Silver Cross. "And I encourage you to continue doing it and develop it."

Gingrich is founder of the Center for Health Transformation, an organization seeking large-scale change in American health care. He is working on a proposal to have the industry -- every doctor, hospital, pharmacy -- shift to electronic records by the end of December 2012.

Clinic and hospital

At the Hedges Clinic, Gingrich listened during a simulation in a doctor's office. Dr. Mike DeMaertelaere, a family practice physician, questioned Silver Cross' Matt Ebaugh, who spoke of a sore throat during the simulation.
"Matt, how long have you been having your sore throat?" DeMaertelaere asked.

"It's a chronic problem. It's seasonal allergies. And I have a really bad sore throat now. No fever," said Ebaugh, chief information officer, regarding his simulated illness.

DeMaertelaere entered information into a laptop computer.

"As it goes through, it's a template of the system that gives me a bunch of options based on his answers. It's a pretty complete system." DeMaertelaere told Gingrich, who was sitting next to him.

The simulation was turned up a notch when Ebaugh was referred to Dr. Sung Chung, an ear, nose and throat specialist with offices in Joliet and Morris. Chung, who was present, was able to access on his laptop computer details from the visit to DeMaertelaere.

The two doctors were in the same room Tuesday -- but they did not have to be. If necessary, they could remotely access the electronic record via technology by Misys Healthcare Systems, a Raleigh, N.C.-based company.

Later Tuesday, Gingrich visited the Silver Cross Hospital emergency department. He observed as Ebaugh's simulated record was accessed by Dr. Dave Mikolajczak, medical director of Emergency Medical Services.

Thus, if a patient needs to visit the emergency department, physicians there can have quick access to a record of previous doctor visits.

Read More