Dr. Susan Kennedy and Dr. JoEllen Heims have different routines these days when they see patients at Mercy Campus Medical Clinic in Des Moines. Rather than carrying a folder filled with a patient’s paper records into the exam room, they are now clicking into a computer to electronically record their patients’ health information. Drs. Kennedy and Heims are among more than 260 health care providers in the Mercy Clinics network throughout Central Iowa who have transitioned to the new, more efficient world of electronic health records. The change to electronic health records is an important step in Mercy’s and Catholic Health Initiatives’ (CHI) plan to implement a common electronic record for patients. Mercy’s clinics are the first sector of Mercy Medical Center to implement an electronic health record as part of its ongoing drive to improve patient care. The transition for Mercy’s clinics started last summer and will be complete in the first quarter of 2012, when health care providers at all 60 Mercy clinics will be working electronically. Eventually all Mercy Medical Center will be linked through an electronic health record exchange, giving doctors, nurses and all health care providers involved in a patient’s care secured access to the medical documentation, improving overall care for patients. The electronic health record– known as EHR – is connecting Dr. Heims and Dr. Kennedy and other medical professionals, pharmacies, labs and radiology departments like never before possible. It’s also adding speed, consistency, accuracy and convenience to health care for medical professionals and patients alike. If a doctor’s notes are entered into an electronic record, they can be accessed – with a patient’s permission – by another medical professional. The system will alert doctors if dosing or a prescription seems awry. Human error is reduced to near zero, and doctors can diagnose problems faster and spend more time seeing patients. “It’s an instant time-saver for us, and for our patients,” said Dr. Heims, who along with Dr. Kennedy has been working in the system since September. “We don’t have to locate paper files; the patient’s information is right in the computer.” Nationally, electronic health records are showing great value for medical professionals to better manage patient care. With the help of secure, health information technology, medical providers have accurate, almost instantaneous information about a patient’s health, whether it is a medical emergency or for routine care.