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The Business of
Health Care Report
Dr. Ferdinand Velasco, a former cardiothoracic surgeon at New York-Presbyterian
Hospital and faculty member at the prestigious Cornell Weill Medical Center in New York, is the new chief medical information
officer for Texas Health Resources. In today's environment, why would a large health care system like Texas
Health Resources create such a position? That answer is that technology and the efficiencies and information it provides are
enablers to greater productivity and quality improvement in health care. As chief medical information officer, or CMIO as he will be known,
Dr. Velasco serves as a liaison between the medical staff and information services. In that role, he directs implementation
of physician activities related to productivity improvement and information processing, including electronic health records
and computerized physician order entry. Physicians entering orders into a computer rather than writing or dictating is
considered a critical element for improving patient safety as highlighted by the national Leapfrog Group composed of Fortune
500 companies. In other words, the chief medical information officer's job is to bridge
any gaps between what is available technologically and what physicians need and want from present and future technology. Dr. Velasco is one of a new breed of physicians embracing all that
technology can provide in health care, while understanding the time-honored personal relationship with patients. He sees
the sharing of information between doctors -- and between doctors and their patients-- as welcome dividends of
technology. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO Doug
Hawthorne with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio
1080 KRLD. Sources: Texas Nurses Association, Texas Hospital Association
©
2002 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 