EHRs and Disaster Preparedness

Here's yet another reason to adopt electronic health records. A hospital that was severely damaged by the recent tornado in Joplin, Mo., found its EHR systems were indispensible in the storm's aftermath.

In a new blog, Farzad Mostashari, who heads the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, points out that for healthcare providers, EHRs can be a vital component of disaster recovery. Plus, they can be far more secure than paper records when a storm hits.

For example, when St. John's Regional Medical Center was heavily damaged, many paper records and X-rays were lost, Mostashari notes. But within six days of the tornado, hospital staff members were treating patients in a mobile medical unit with full access to their electronic health records.

Mostashari, who oversees the HITECH Act EHR incentive program, notes that paper records from the hospital were found as far as 75 miles away. To help ensure privacy the hospital is asking anyone who finds records to return them. Let's hope they do.

"The bottom line is that EHRs proved to be more accessible in times of crisis as well as more secure and confidential," Mostashari contends.

His blog is well worth reading - and worth sharing with those who doubt the value of an EHR.