Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Gets Grant to Further Digitalize Patient Records

Using newly awarded federal funds, is one of 70 healthcare providers in the state aiming to digitalizing all patient records by 2014.

On Thursday NJ Spotlight reported that Medicaid would be funneling $40 million to these 70 healthcare providers in New Jersey. Over the next ten years, it is expected that $500 million in incentive payments would be given out to 3,000 healthcare providers in the state to entice them to go digital with their records.

The goal is for all patient records for everyone in NJ to be digital by 2014.

According to the NJ Spotlight report, medical professionals anticipate that digital files will leave less room for patient error, and will be accessible anywhere in the world through the internet.

Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center received approximately $1.5 million to assist with this endeavor, but Bob Irwin, senior vice president of IT for the hospital, said about 80 percent of the hospital's patient records are already digitalized.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital got a big boost in digitalizing its patient files when the Medicaid payments were approved through President Obama's stimulus package, Irwin said.

The hospital already has all discharge summaries, nurses' notes and physical therapy reports filed electronically, Irwin said.

The current goal is to keep increasing that digital information, up to physican daily progress notes being filed electronically, he said.