The many lessons learned in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 are even paying benefits in the health IT arena. Drawing on its experiences with the two massive storms three years ago, Ochsner Medical Center in Louisiana, was well prepared when Hurricane Gustav hit earlier this month. The facility had back-up generators in place and was able to remain open all the while Gustav was wreaking its havoc. Those generators enabled Ochsner to keep its electronic medical records powered and in use, which officials reported to be most advantageous. The EMRs allowed emergency docs to more quickly treat those who came in with storm-related injuries. Physicians had a better sense of patients’ medical situations thanks to the availability of medical histories, pre-existing conditions, medications and all of the many other details EMRs provide.

The situation brought back vivid memories of a very special project we here at MEDecision were involved in with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas during Hurricane Rita in ’05. We worked around-the-clock for two days to create payer-based health records for BCBSTX’s 830,000 members who were potential evacuees from the approaching storm. The BCBSTX technical staff gathered claims data for members who lived in the zip codes in the Texas coastal areas. They then turned that information over to our people who organized and processed it using our clinical validation rules to create clinically enhanced payer-based health records for the affected members. When Rita stormed ashore, BCBSTX members had their clinical histories available through their insurer for use by their doctors should the need arise far from home. Three short years later, this initiative has become established procedure for a number of insurers. In fact, we recently worked with HCSC to ensure that Patient Clinical Summary records were in place for potential Gustav and Ike victims, even extending our reach into parts of Oklahoma. What’s interesting (and encouraging) is that, back in ’05, our work with BCBSTX was a momentous thing that garnered media and Congressional attention. Now it’s pretty commonplace for us. Definitely a sign of progress! 

This all goes to illustrate the tremendous impact health IT can have on our health care system and, more importantly, our society — particularly in times of crisis. Imagine the elderly person who has to evacuate their home, winds up somewhere 100 miles away and needs medical attention. Normally the treating physician would have to rely on patient-provided background and the limited conclusions of a brief examination. As evidenced in the Ochsner case, the presence of EMRs puts much more thorough and detailed information at doctors’ fingertips, meaning that more displaced hurricane victims can receive better treatment.  Of course, the prevailing hope is that we would never need EMRs for this purpose going forward, but when we do, it’s comforting to know that the technology is in place to assist people in what is likely their time of greatest need.