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Electronic Revolution Jolts Economy, Health Care

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2009

This week USF Health CEO Stephen Klasko and Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor launched a program Klasko is convinced will be the beginning of "an electronic revolution in health care."

Through PaperFree Tampa, a public-private partnership, the university will hire some 130 people to fan out into 10 counties and meet one-on-one with physicians to persuade them it's time to convert from paper pads to an all-electronic prescription system.

It's the first regional initiative to call upon federal stimulus monies to help integrate electronic prescribing hardware and software.

This won't be an easy task - change never is - but USF is in a unique position to lead the effort, and once physicians go electronic, they will offer safer and higher quality care for patients.

President Obama has said he hopes to put $50 billion over the next five years toward the goal of universal implementation of interoperable electronic health records, and Castor has requested $16 million for this first step.

Although some doctors are hesitant to use e-prescriptions, both because they are set in their ways and it is expensive, many of the medical students attending USF's college of medicine will graduate without ever having used a prescription pad.

The few doctors here who have already gone electronic admit it's complicated. Along with the other physicians in her practice, Madelyn Butler, an obstetrician and incoming president of the Florida Medical Association, committed to electronic records, not just prescriptions, several years ago.

She says it has helped maximize patient care, but admits it's costly and time-consuming getting started. And she says her office computers still can't communicate with the computers at the hospitals where she delivers babies.

But PaperFree Tampa is an innovative first step that brings a human dimension to what may seem a daunting process. It's sort of the on-ramp to the electronic medical records highway.

The transition to e-prescriptions will create jobs while helping the nation develop a more efficient and economical health care system. So it represents a smart use of stimulus dollars. And by taking a lead, USF is serving as a resource for the community and strengthening its reputation as an innovative medical school.

Although less than 10 percent of physicians use electronic prescribing today, technology will compel them to do it sooner rather that later. Two years from now, Klasko predicts, doctors here will not feel they are providing safe care if they are still writing prescriptions.

PaperFree is an opportunity for USF and this region's physicians. It is a step forward in medical care for patients.

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