Healthcare Giant Launches National Health Record System

Liz Perry for Leaders in Healthcare – May 13, 2008

Last week, Kaiser Permanente announced that all of its 8.7 million enrollees in nine states and the District of Columbia can now access HealthConnect, an outpatient electronic health record (EHR). In addition, Kaiser's 13,000 physicians nationwide all have electronic access to patients' medical records in the system's 421 medical offices and clinics.

The next phase is integrating the EHR system for inpatient record keeping. The EHR software has been installed at 13 of Kaiser’s 36 hospitals, giving 3.2 million enrollees the advantages of an inpatient EHR system. Another 14 hospitals will implement the software in 2008, and the rest will follow by early 2010.

The trend toward electronic health records is quickly growing. It is a strong emphasis in today’s leading informatics degree programs, and required knowledge for those looking to go into this rapidly expanding field.