Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/45928
physicians and patients from exploring the true value EHR systems have to offer: adoption. There were just too few EHR-based physician practices to produce the kind of large, diverse patient population data needed to generate demonstrable results. But beginning with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the adoption barrier began to fade. First, EHR adoption became a stated national priority. Then, federal, state and private organizations did a tremendous amount of work to quantify the parameters of what an electronic medical record system should be capable of doing, and how those "certified" systems would best be used. And then, in 2011, physicians across the country began completing the "meaningful use" attestation process, clearing the way for the first incentive/reimbursement payments to be released. In Ohio, HIT adoption efforts have been particularly brisk. Ohio's Regional Extension Centers, a public/private partnership charged with providing EHR-related decision support services to physicians in private practice, has reported adoption rates that are among the best of any state program in the country. And, as of the last day of August, 2011, over 550 Cleveland Clinic physicians (including several regional physicians in private practice who use the MyPractice Community electronic medical record system), had successfully attested to "meaningful use" compliance. Given Ohio's leadership position in HIT adoption, it may come as no surprise that northeast Ohio physicians, hospitals, and public and private organizations and agencies (all part of Better Health Greater Cleveland, an independent not-for-profit program begun in 2007 under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Aligning Forces for Quality" initiative) were quick to collaborate in an effort intended to begin illuminating HIT's impact on patient care. As part of a "special article" titled, "Electronic Health Records and Quality of Diabetes Care," which appeared in the Building on the priorities identified in the Phase One "meaningful use" standards released in 2011, the proposed Phase Two standards presently under discussion include a set of Core measures supported by Menu items that are designed to advance a more integrated and efficient healthcare process across multiple delivery environments. September 1st, 2011 of The New England Journal of Medicine, an analysis of reported data for 27,207 adults (18 to 75 years of age) with diabetes seen at 46 regional practices (569 providers) associated with seven care organizations between July 2009 and June 2010, indicated that the achievement of composite standards for diabetes care and outcomes were both higher for patients treated at practice sites that used an electronic health record system than at those achieved by patients treated at paper-based sites.* With this publication, and the elec- tronic health record-enabled studies that will surely follow, the healthcare community is witnessing the beginnings of a process through which clinicians and researchers will use the common language of data to engage with one another in the identification of ever-more refined ways of leveraging technology- related tools to deliver healthcare of the highest possible quality to patients. And with so much EHR-related work having been done by local and regional clinicians and their partners, it is becoming increas- ingly apparent that a significant portion of the map that will describe America's healthcare future could well be drawn right here in Ohio. To f ind out how the MyPract ice Community electronic medical record system for physicians in private practice can work for you, please call 216.738.4617, or visit www.clevelandclinic.org/mpc. MyPractice Community is powered by EPIC Systems, an ONC-ATCB-certified solution. (ONC-ATCB: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology-Authorized Testing and Certification Body.) n *Cebul, RD, Love, TE, Jain, AK, Hebert, CJ. Electronic Health Records and Quality of Diabetes Care. N Engl J Med 2011;365(9): 825-33. NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 MDNEWS.COM MD NEWS Cleveland-Akron-Canton | 45 PHOTOS COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CLINIC