Analyzing “the Harbin Clinic: Early Adoption of Emr Advantages and Challenges” by William J. Todd and Margaret

Case Study 1: Analyzing “The Harbin Clinic: Early Adoption of EMR Advantages and Challenges” by William J. Todd and Margaret Singletary (2012)

        Established in 1908 in Rome, Georgia, The Harbin Clinic is one of the most versatile outpatient care facilities in the world. Originally founded as a hospital, the clinic has 140 doctors representing thirty medical specialties, and includes a full lab, radiology services, CT & MRI scanners, and a dialysis facility. In the case, Dr. Ken Davis, the CEO of the Harbin Clinic, is in the process of deciding whether to update their electronic medical record system, when just ten years ago the clinic’s former CEO Dr. J. Paul Ferguson initiated the clinic’s first EMR implementation. It is noted that Dr. Davis was made CEO at a volatile time and had faced the first wave of EMR use, working with IT legend Tom Fricks and several vendors to ensure the most effective product for the Harbin Clinic. Not long after, Dr. Davis faces a similar dilemma of improving his medical records system, only this time with government incentives; Dr. Davis identifies the need for increased electronic storage, the high cost of servers, and other expensive software updates, thus the CEO ultimately selects a cloud-based EMR system, surpassing the healthcare curve once again.

        Throughout the several satellite Harbin Clinics in Georgia, Dr. Ken Davis has high authority over many decisions made in the operation. As the principal in the case, the CEO is tasked with an expensive quandary of how to update an already-advanced electronic medical records system. Alike with Dr. Ferguson, Dr. Davis saw the need for an improved central database with greater storage and implementation support. A similar push to enhance patient care, but still meet the financial bottom line, was seen when the Harbin Clinic first enacted the EMR system. When the EMR was initially implemented in the early 2000’s, Dr. Ferguson and Tom Fricks selected a product centered on user interaction that enabled patient information to be shared across all forty specialties. IPAC records, E-Prescribe, Templating, and the Wong Baker Scale were all changes that the introduction of the EMR system affected in the Harbin Clinic. Growing from these major improvements, Dr. Davis hopes that the new cloud system can track and record patients’ medical history across all venues, enhancing the nationwide quality information exchange—but there are several problems with this decision.

        When considering a new EMR system, Dr. Davis and his IT Director Angie McWhorter debated with the key issues when purchasing a new software and medical record system. Gaining the board’s support along with the physicians’ and staff would be difficult for several reasons, such as costs and training, but even more so, Dr. Davis and Ms. McWhorter were challenged as to whether the new technology would comply with the federal government mandate: the HITECH Act. This Act encourages medical providers to adopt healthcare technology by providing monetary incentives, but only for those qualified with the meaningful use criterion of electronic medical records. Meeting this criterion could prove tough for the Harbin Clinic, when only recently were they able to measure their patient success quantitatively with the help of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. Dr. Davis is tasked with an unprecedented move in the healthcare industry, but the new cloud technology could result in a lot to manage.