"When I was nine, my father actually died from a misdiagnosis. The hospital lost his medical records, and they treated him for the wrong thing because they couldn't reach the attending physician. That's why I started thinking about how to prevent this from happening at an early age. A lot of people who are drawn to us have had similar experiences. Something in their lives has driven them to take care of people."

- Eric Saff, Chief Information Officer, John Muir Health IT Group

Information Technology at John Muir Health

Our commitment to clinical excellence, quality, and community service was evident in the results of our last employee satisfaction survey. Our employees like the people they work for, are inspired by the fact that they are part of an excellent community, and enjoy being part of an organization that is committed to delivering quality patient care.

The State of the Art

According to a survey released at the recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society annual meeting in Dallas, only 18 percent of hospitals and multi-hospital groups have a fully operational electronic medical record system.

John Muir Health, however, is ahead of the technological curve:

• Using MD Portal, we give physicians online access to all their labs, radiology, reports, and flow sheets anywhere in the world.

• We have built one of the largest hospital-based reference labs in the United States. We don't just keep up with technology, we also set the benchmark in certain areas of the industry.

• Our aim is to create a "network of networks" that will allow doctors, hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and insurers to securely exchange information about patients, using "record locator services" that identify patients who have agreed to take part. The network will also be used to track public health threats such as disease outbreaks and bioterrorism.

• We have technology that allows about 1,200 physicians to see labs, dictated reports, and other communications on their PDAs.

• Our bar-coding medication administration ensures that our patients receive the right medication at the right time.

• Our pharmacy robot stores and delivers medication, reducing human error.

• We are also working on computerized physician order entry, in which software linked to an electronic medical record automatically checks medication orders for drug interaction, allergies, or dosage problems. It then sends reminders about proper treatment, alerts doctors to problems, and stops potentially harmful orders.