2008 Woodie Awards
New medical software to safeguard patients' records
Sara Wade
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Front Page
Students will soon be able to schedule appointments online for both Student Health Services and University Counseling Services. Steve Mayhew, director of University Counseling Services, says that the software will be in place no later than Sept. 1, 2008.
The university has purchased a new computer program titled "OpenCommunicator," produced by Point and Click Solutions, a company that develops software products and technology for medical and patient scheduling,
The software will be incorporated with existing electronic medical records to allow students to do the following via the Internet: view medical records; fill out entrance medical forms; schedule appointments; view medical and health information, and fill out brief surveys of their symptoms so that his or her health care provider will have a better idea of what is wrong with him or her.
Rita Girth, director of Student Health Services, says that OpenCommunicator will allow the health center and counseling services to integrate data into one chart for each student. A limited staff will have access to the records.
"There will be no paper charts," Girth said.
One feature that will be added over this summer is a web-based patient communication module that will provide secure communication between the patient and the health services on campus.
"Both the staff at the Student Health Center and the University Counseling Services believe in a method of care that integrates both the physical and the mental need of students," Mayhew said.
Mayhew says that the only school he is aware of that is the same size as PSU and has such a system is Dartmouth.
"To date, there are no other Kansas schools within the Board of Regents that have an electronic medical record system that integrates both health and counseling services," Mayhew said. "We are one of the few midsize universities to have such a system in the United States; most others are three to four times larger than PSU, such as Stanford and UCLA."
He says the total expense will be around $20,000.
The university has purchased a new computer program titled "OpenCommunicator," produced by Point and Click Solutions, a company that develops software products and technology for medical and patient scheduling,
The software will be incorporated with existing electronic medical records to allow students to do the following via the Internet: view medical records; fill out entrance medical forms; schedule appointments; view medical and health information, and fill out brief surveys of their symptoms so that his or her health care provider will have a better idea of what is wrong with him or her.
Rita Girth, director of Student Health Services, says that OpenCommunicator will allow the health center and counseling services to integrate data into one chart for each student. A limited staff will have access to the records.
"There will be no paper charts," Girth said.
One feature that will be added over this summer is a web-based patient communication module that will provide secure communication between the patient and the health services on campus.
"Both the staff at the Student Health Center and the University Counseling Services believe in a method of care that integrates both the physical and the mental need of students," Mayhew said.
Mayhew says that the only school he is aware of that is the same size as PSU and has such a system is Dartmouth.
"To date, there are no other Kansas schools within the Board of Regents that have an electronic medical record system that integrates both health and counseling services," Mayhew said. "We are one of the few midsize universities to have such a system in the United States; most others are three to four times larger than PSU, such as Stanford and UCLA."
He says the total expense will be around $20,000.
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