EHR SNAFU Leads Hospital CEO To Resign
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Athens Regional is addressing new computer system problems encountered by doctors.
James Thaw, president and CEO of Athens (Ga.) Regional Medical Center resigned amid complaints from the medical staff that his administration bungled the implementation of an electronic health-record system, according to Online Athens.
The rollout of a Cerner Corp. EHR system went live May 4 in “most areas” of the organization, according to a new release issued at the time. Plans called for the system to extend to Athens Regional's employed physician offices and its four urgent-care centers three weeks later.
In a letter dated May 15, multiple doctors noted such concerns as “medication errors ... orders being lost or overlooked ... (emergency department) patients leaving after long waits; and of an inpatient who wasn’t seen by a physician for (five) days,” according to Athens Online. Physicians said the timeline was “too aggressive” and users were unready.
The letter was addressed to Thaw and SVP and CIO Gretchen Tegethoff. It was signed by more than a dozen physicians, including Carolann Eisenhart, president of the medical staff; Joseph T. Johnson, vice president of the medical staff; David M. Sailers, surgery department chair; and, Robert D. Sinyard, medicine department chair.
The intended goal of the system is to improve efficiency and connectivity by providing doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals with a shared data set and to eventually allow patients online access to their medical records. But doctors noted the new system often proved too cumbersome to be effective at the time the letter was written.
Athens Regional has not responded, though Thaw claimed the hospital system took “swift action” to solve the problems, specifically by adding specialized workers to help physicians.
On May 22, the medical staff delivered a vote of “no confidence” in Thaw, according to the Athens Flagpole. “The ARMC and Athens Regional Health System Board of Trustees accepted Thaw's resignation following a stormy meeting of hospital medical personnel Tuesday night that one participant described as ‘200 doctors of all political persuasions solid in their vote of no confidence in the present hospital administration.’ The vote was 270–0, according to another source.”