Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP James L. Holly, M.D. Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP


Letters - Medical Economics and Medical Records May 27, 2017
View in PDF Format Print this page

May 27, 2017

Keith L. Martin
Editorial Director
Medical Economics

After taking the Medical Economics’ EMR Survey and having no confidence that you will see this, I nevertheless send this note about Southeast Texas Medical Associates' design and use of electronic medical records since 1998.  If you hand any interest in discussing this material, you may call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX.  

In 2014, when SETMA sought and received accreditation from The Joint Commission for Ambulatory Care and for Patient-Centered Medical Home, (renewed in 2017 through 2020), the surveyors and an executive commented about the philosophical foundation of SETMA’s work.  In response to SETMA’s notebook which was prepared in response to The Joint Commission’s Standards and Requirements Chapter Seven on leadership” the executive said, “Look at this; everything they do is founded upon a philosophical foundation.  They know ‘what they are doing,’ but more importantly, they know why they are doing it.’”  SETMA is not the result of random efforts but of innovations and advances which are consistent with a structured set of ideals, principles and goals. 

After SETMA was invited by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to apply for a research project entitled “Learning from Exemplar Ambulatory Practices), we were selected as one of thirty exemplar ambulatory practices in the United States.  The RWJF team which visited SETMA observed that SETMA had approached healthcare transformation differently than anyone they have seen.  They related that uniqueness to the decision we made in 1999 to morph from the pursuit of “electronic patient records” to the pursuit of “electronic patient management.”  They were surprised to see how centrally and essentially electronics are positioned into SETMA and how all other things are driven by the power of electronics.  They marveled at the wedding of the technology of IT with clinical excellence and knowledge.  The communication and integration of the healthcare team through the power of IT is novel, they concluded.

With the foundation of these two comments, I offer the following brief introduction to our use of EMR.

The design of our EMR was formulated in 1999 from the principles in The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge:
http://jameslhollymd.com/your-life-your-health/designing-an-emr-guided-by-the-fifth-discipline.

In 2011, HIMSS awarded SETMA “Stories of Success” their highest designation. The following two links summarize that “story” which is essentially about our use of EMR:
http://jameslhollymd.com/your-life-your-health/HIMSS-Stories-of-Success-Part-I,
http://jameslhollymd.com/your-life-your-health/HIMSS-Stories-of-Success-Part-II.

Critical to our progress has been the incorporation of Data Analytics into  our work. The following is a brief introduction: 
http://jameslhollymd.com/your-life-your-health/patient-centered-medical-home-the-power-of-data-in-designing-the-future-of-healthcare

If a discussion about these materials and ideas would be of interest you may contact me at the number below.

Sincerely yours,

James (Larry) Holly, M.D.
C.E.O. SETMA
www.jameslhollymd.com

Adjunct Professor
Family & Community Medicine
UT Health San Antonio
Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine

Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
School of Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center