Many Big Island health care providers have computerized their medical records earlier than many others in Hawaii.
The Obama administration’s health care reform law requires hospitals and physicians to computerize all medical records by January 2015.
Hilo Medical Center, Kau Hospital and Hale Hoola Hamakua did so back in 2010, along with 11 outpatient clinics. The early start has earned these providers $3 million in early adopter incentives, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported (http://bit.ly/12g3rBo ).
The East Hawaii region providers are all part of the state’s public hospital network, Hawaii Health Systems Corp. Their conversion process took four years and cost $20 million.
About 65 percent of physicians across the Big Island have implemented their own electronic medical records systems, East Hawaii Regional CEO Howard Ainsley said in an interview last month.
Getting 100 percent compliance could be difficult, he said. Some doctors are near retirement and aren’t comfortable with technology, he said.
“What is concerning, not only for the Big Island but the whole state, is that there are doctors who will be frustrated with some of these new requirements and they will look to leave medicine,” Ainsley said.
The rest of the state’s public hospitals are further behind in their conversion process. The total cost is likely to exceed $100 million, almost double the original estimate of $58 million. Administrators say the overruns are largely due to greater-than-expected expenses and delays in phasing in the new system.
