Student Health Center adds electronic records system

March 8, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new electronic health records (EHR) system at the University of Florida Student Health Care Center eventually will allow students to use their computers to make appointments, fill forms and view their clinical history and referral information.

The center will phase in the $500,000 system over the next several months, which may cause some initial delays with appointments and bills, but the result will be worth it, center officials said.

Dr. Phil Barkley, director of the Student Health Care Center, said, “Excellence in healthcare demands that we manage information in a sensitive and efficient manner. We can only make our best decisions based on timely and accurate information and moving toward an EHR will support our continued effort toward excellence.”

After almost a year of review and site visits at many higher education institutions that have already implemented such electronic systems, the center chose a PyraMED system from Media Highway. It runs on an Oracle database, which is known for stability and security.

PyraMED provides compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and role-based security to protect the medical records. It also offers a very friendly GUI (graphic user interface) to help the frontline staff to catch on quickly, said Toni Ratliff, associate director for operations at the Student Health Care Center.

The system also communicates with the ClinLab and ProPharm systems for lab testing and prescriptions.

“The ultimate goal is to go paperless but that is a ways off,” said Louise Okken, Project Manager. “We will convert students’ records over the next seven years, which is how long we must keep medical records for patients.”

During the next several months, patients will have both a paper chart and an electronic chart.

For additional information about the PyraMED implementation project, contact Louise Okken at (352) 392-1161 ext. 1-4274 or via e-mail okkenle@ufl.edu.