By Alex Byrd abyrd@news-journal.com
HENDERSON — Rusk County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a $34,000 transition from paper medical records to a digital database at the Rusk County Jail.
“Everything is going paperless, and we’re trying to be more self-sufficient in the jail so that we can better communicate with other entities,” jail administrator, Lt. Cassandra Shaw said.
Installation details beyond pricing are not yet known, but the medic department is working on an official proposal, Shaw said.
“We’re trying to get up to snuff — so to speak — with our medical records,” Shaw said.
For several years, the county jail’s capacity has been stretched to the limit from an occupancy of 92-inmate beds to nearly 300 today. In 2010, the county jail added space for another 100 beds, Shaw said.
In addition to an increasing inmate population, the jail medic department, sheriff and commissioners want to prevent any room for breaches of privacy and negligent liability of jail patients.
“Because of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and since you have to have all of the properties in place, you have to install firewalls and all of that,” Shaw said of digital precautions the department is taking.
“Now, we can get everything we need instantly and ensure that they have the proper care that they need,” Shaw said.
