1. COMPUTER SYSTEM ENHANCES
PATIENT CARE
AND ADMINISTRATION
Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center
uses an information system to meet
present and future demands
By Krista Brewer
n the classic Southern Goth-
ic drama, the Mississippi
Delta is a place where time
stands still. The pace is slow,
and always old-fashioned. But
times are changing....
A rare coincidence sets the
stage for a possible mix-up of
patients. Two baby girls with
the same last name are born
within hours of each other.
One has a slight lung infec-
tion. A doctor prescribes anti-
biotics, and the nurse orders
the medication through the
hospital's computer terminal.
The computer system has a
record of two babies with the
same last name and requires
the nurse to enter the infant's
identification number.
Six months later, the baby
without the lung infection
takes the same antibiotic for
an ear infection and has an
allergic reaction. If she had been mis-
takenly given the antibiotic at birth, the
reaction would have been a life-
threatening situation.
The system that helps avoid that kind
of scenario at the Northwest Mis-
sissippi Regional Medical Center in
Clarksdale, is the IBM System/38 Hos-
pital Patient Management System.
According to executive director Clif-
ford L. Johnson Jr., "It's a very good
administrative and patient care tool."
That sentiment is echoed by Vernon
Davis, chief lab technician, "That's it
in a nutshell. It's a premium tool to
ensure quality care."
Instant Results. At nurses stations
throughout the 194-bed facility, orders
for lab work are entered into the inte-
grated, on-line system via terminals
and printed instantly in the lab. When
testing is completed, the results are
keyed into terminals in the lab and
transmitted back to the appropriate
nursing station. "We used to average
five or six hours a day manually posting
lab results to charts," says Davis. "Now
it's done automatically and re-
sults get to the floor in-
stantly." Similarly, when a
drug is ordered from a nurse
station, the system pulls the
patient record to check for
potentially harmful drug inter-.
actions, allergies, and the
appropriateness of the dosage
with respect to the patient's
body weight.
Cost control. "One
motivation behind installing
this sytem was cost control,"
explains Gene Sykes, assis-
tant executive director.
"When a large percentage of
our patients are poor, we don't
have a big margin of profit."
The system is involved in
most aspects of the hospital's
operation including admis-
sions, discharges, transfers,
patient billings, accounts re-
ceivable, order communica-
tions, results reporting, gener-
al ledger, accounts payable,
pharmacy management,
medical records, case mix manage-
ment, DRG reporting, personnel and
payroll.
Having previously used an outside
computer service, Sykes says the hospi-
tal now has more computerized func-
tions for less money. "We thought we
had good manual control of patient
charges, but the first year after the order
communications application was in-
stalled, we saw an increase in reve-
nue," states Sykes.
The system's flexibility, ease-of-use
Continued on page 48
Results from lab tests are instantly transmitted to nurse
stations throughout the hospital.
Data Processing
38/SOUTHERN HOSPITALS

2. 48/SOUTHERN HOSPITALS Circle 121 on Reader Service Card
Continued from page 38
and expandability have allowed the
hospital to keep up with rapidly chang-
ing regulations and requirements,
according to Bob Nance, director of
data processing. "The system's pro-
grams are easy to understand and mod-
ify, and the types of data we are able to
get have been very useful as manage-
ment decision tools," says Nance. "For
our last Blue Cross audit, we gave them
a terminal and access to only the in-
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formation they needed. Before, we
would have spent 24 hours getting the
information they requested."
"Hospital administration has
changed rapidly in the past few years
and more changes are in sight," says
Nance. "I think that with the flexibility
of this system, we'll be able to meet the
challenge ofrunning the hospital for a
long time." n
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Tennessee
Steven J. Bell has been named associ-
ate executive director of Eastwood
Hospital, Memphis. Eastwood, who
has been assistant executive director of
the hospital since 1982, obtained a mas-
ter's degree in public administration
from New Mexico State University.
Norman G. Calhoun has accepted the
position of administrator of Jesse Hol-
man Jones Hospital. She served as vice
president of Nashville Memorial Hos-
pital, Madison, for more than eight
years.
The American Retirement Corporation,
based in Nashville, has announced the
appointments of two vice presidents.
James T. Money, who has been with
ARC since 1980, was promoted to vice
president of development. The new
senior vice president of operations is
James W. Hendley, Ph.D. Prior to
joining ARC, he was senior vice
president of operations for a Whitakker
Corporation international health com-
pany.
John T. Casey has accepted the posi-
tion of president and CEO of Methodist
Health Systems of Memphis. He had
been president and chief executive offi-
cer of Presbyterian/Saint Luke's Medi-
cal Center since 1979.
Texas
Bill Kennedy has been promoted to
administrator of R. E. Thomason
General Hospital, El Paso. Kennedy,
past associate executive director and
chief operations officer at the hospital,
holds a master's degree in health care
administration from Trinity University.
San Antonio.
Wayne Brannon has been named as
administrator of Malone-Hogan Hospi-
tal, Big Spring.
The new administrator of Parkview
Hospital is Gerry Tipsword. He was a
health care consultant in Atlanta before
accepting the position in Midland.
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