When Jeremy Meller joined Iowa Heart Center’s information technology department in 2001, the department had just four computer specialists. Now, he heads a staff of 10 IT professionals who manage Iowa Heart’s computer systems. Together, they manage a massive data-retrieval system that electronically stores more than 12.5 million pages of patients’ records – about 10 terrabytes of information.

For patients at Iowa Heart’s new West Des Moines office, which opened last month at 5880 University Ave., the new system means their doctor can instantly pull up their entire medical record – and quickly update it – as they are being seen in the examination room. By the first quarter of next year, Iowa Heart plans to have the system available at each of its eight primary clinics throughout the state, with a long-term goal of making it available at its satellite clinics statewide.

“It can dramatically improve the quality of the care that we provide,” Meller said of the system, which Iowa Heart invested approximately $2 million to develop. “It allows us to be more consistent in the information that we gather, and more consistent in how we display and prioritize that information. Over time, errors can creep into a (paper) record.” In addition, an electronic record can’t be temporarily misplaced on a physician’s desk, an inconvenience that occurred nearly daily with paper files, he said.

Nationwide, it’s estimated that fewer than 10 percent of medical practices are equipped with an electronic medical records system that allows practitioners to instantly access their patients’ records on a computer screen. It’s a statistic that lawmakers are focused on improving, however.

Legislation now before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee would establish matching federal grants for health-care providers to upgrade their IT systems, and allow states to provide low-interest loans to providers to establish electronic medical records systems.

Also, federal officials announced in July that Medicare will begin offering a version of its electronic medical records system, called Vista, free of charge to providers beginning this month, along with a list of companies trained to install and maintain the system.

Greater Des Moines’ two major hospital systems, Iowa Health-Des Moines and Mercy Medical Center, are each working toward implementing fully electronic medical systems.

As more physician practices and clinics in Iowa install electronic medical records, “where the advantages really start to come into place is where you can send that data back and forth to primary doctors and others who need them,” said Dr. Mark Purtle, president of medical affairs for Iowa Health-Des Moines. “Clearly, everyone who is going to electronic medical records in the outpatient setting, we’re exploring what it’s going to take to have connections with them.”

From the perspective of Iowa Heart physicians, their new system will take some time to adjust to, but the increased efficiency will be well worth it, said Dr. Marc Klein, a cardiologist with the practice who is coordinating the transition.

  “They’re doing very well; they like it,” Klein said. “As with any computerization, they would never want to go back to the old paper records. We’ve heard that several times.”

  With the new system, “you don’t necessarily see more patients; you have more time with a patient when you see them, is really what happens, because you have better access to information,” Klein said. “You miss less. We have better access to information; I think that’s the main thing.”

  To safeguard the confidentiality of patients’ records, the system is equipped with the same level of firewall protection that major financial institutions use to safeguard their clients’ personal data, Meller said. Also, the entire system is backed up approximately every 30 minutes through a disaster recovery center located at Iowa Heart’s East Ninth Street office.

  From an operational standpoint, launching an electronic medical records system allowed Iowa Heart to allocate half the space it once did for its medical records department and to reduce that department’s staff by one-third through attrition, he said.

  About 60 percent of the records have been scanned, and about the same percentage of Iowa Heart doctors are now using the system.

“We’re now doing some of our smaller offices, and the project will be complete by the first quarter of next year,” Meller said. “We also have about 60 percent of our physicians on it as well. We haven’t had a physician yet who hasn’t been able to use the system or who has refused to use the system.”