EHRs Simplify Patient Notification Task

Last fall, some AAFP members wasted no time telling colleagues how easy it was to identify patients on rofecoxib, sold as VIOXX, when the drug was pulled off the market.

Electronic health records saved the day.

"I timed it this morning -- it took us less than 60 seconds to identify every patient who is on VIOXX or who has been on VIOXX so that we can take appropriate action," Thomas Horton, M.D., of Rainsville, Ala., wrote Sept. 30 to an e-mail discussion list.

In a recent follow-up conversation, Horton said he notified 75 patients of the VIOXX withdrawal by mail using letters generated through his electronic health record system. He said he couldn't have pulled off such a task without his EHR. "There would have been no practical way to sort through over 6,000 charts to find the patients on a particular medication," said Horton.

Steve Diamond, M.D., an FP from Rockford, Ill., had similar rave reviews about his EHR. "In a few minutes, I had a list of all my patients taking VIOXX, listed with their birth dates and phone numbers," Diamond said. His staff took the list of 44 patients and -- in about three hours -- notified every patient on the list.

One caveat: Some FPs reported that their EHR systems could not extract the data to generate a list for patient notification.

"The bottom line for patient care is that my patients know that I am a responsive FP who contacted them about a timely medical concern rather than waiting for them to call me," said Diamond. His response to the situation was just good patient care, good public relations and good risk management, he said. "I slept better that night than some other docs might have."