Y-12 licenses paperless medical record system
Y-12 licenses paperless medical record system to Healthcare Technology Partners LLC
Mon, 5 October 2009
The Y-12 National Security Complex has signed an agreement with Healthcare Technology Partners LLC to license the system it developed and currently uses to electronically manage the medical records of its 4,500-plus employees.
The electronic medical business operations system (EMBOS) is a web-enabled, comprehensive electronic medical record system that captures patients’ current and past medical data, as well as scheduling and workflow. Y‑12 developed EMBOS out of its own need and a requirement by the U.S. Department of Energy that all DOE-related medical records be electronically available by 2015.
“In 2005, the White House came out supporting the use of electronic medical records across the federal government. Within a year, DOE issued its requirements,” said George Dailey, Y‑12’s chief information officer. “Y-12 immediately went to work to develop a system that not only met this DOE requirement and our own needs but is considered as a model across the DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration complex. With this licensing, EMBOS will also be available to the private sector.”
This system could eliminate the overwhelming volume of paper medical records and the inefficiency of having patients recap their medical histories each and every time they go to the doctor.
“The way we are currently doing things is obviously not working,” said Joe Wolfe, president and chairman of Healthcare Technology Partners LLC. “Our president has made health care reform a national priority. He and Congress have enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), providing billions of dollars of funding to assist doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers to implement the next revolutionary phase of healthcare reform: electronic medical/health care records. We intend to make EMBOS a recognized standard for managing these records.”
Healthcare Technology Partners is comprised of a small group of investors; educational institutions, including state, minority and historically black colleges and universities or HBCUs; and is discussing partnering opportunities with Terremark Worldwide. Wolfe said the partnership will draw from the talents and expertise of the partner universities and Y‑12 to further develop the tool to meet the needs of other government entities and the private sector. Facilitating innovation, invention and commercialization through technology transfer is central to DOE and NNSA’s mission of advancing the nation’s national, economic and energy security. For more information on other commercialization opportunities and Y‑12’s tech transfer program, please visit www.y12.doe.gov.
Y-12 is a key facility in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex and is responsible for ensuring the safety, reliability, and security of the nuclear weapons stockpile and serves as the nation’s primary repository of highly enriched uranium. B&W Y‑12 operates the Y‑12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration.