Alabama VA drives IT healthcare adoption statewide

Lynard Skynard loved 'em. Neil Young and Randy Newman weren't so sure. But folks in Alabama are transforming their "sweet home" into something of a cutting-edge healthcare IT state. For a decade, the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Alabama has used computerized medical records to try to curb medical errors. Other hospitals are trying to follow suit. Nationally, the VA is leading the way in terms of computerization of medical records and medicine distribution. The Tuscaloosa VA set the stage as the first in the country to use a computerized patient record system with real patients. They're also ahead of the curve when it comes to incorporating technology into basic hospital tasks and others are taking note, said Rosemary Blackmon, spokeswoman for the Alabama Hospital Association. "Hospitals are really working on their own to develop tools like those [at the VA]," Blackmon told The Tuscaloosa News.

"We haven't surveyed our hospitals, but it's safe to say in Alabama that the majority of hospitals are looking at it and assessing the possibility of incorporating physician order entry. They are also looking at it in conjunction with electronic medical records." increased usage of physician order entry, or similar electronic prescription software programs, is one direction in which Blackmon said the industry is rapidly moving.

For more on the Tuscaloosa VA:
- read this interview at The Tuscaloosa News.