PageA 7 îlf< ^ J o rtla n b (Observer luly 22. 2 0 0 9 H ealth matters Digital Records Improve Health Care (A P )-- Baby Riley M atthews w heezed noisily on the exam table. "H e's belly-breathing," th e e m e rg e n c y -ro o m d o c to r said worriedly — Riley's little abdom en was markedly rising and falling with each breath, a sign o f respiratory distress. In m ost em ergency room s, the d o cto r w ould grill M om : H as he e v e r been X -ra y e d ? D o y o u r e m e m b e r w h a t it sh o w ed? B ut in the new all- d ig ital C h ild ren 's H ospital o f P itts b u r g h , d o c t o r s j u s t clicked on a C O W — a "co m ­ p u ter on w heels" th at ro lls to e a c h p a t i e n t 's s id e . U p p o p ped every te st and X -ray the 6-m onth-old has ever had. T his is the eerily paperless hospital o f the future, what the "electronic medical record" that President Barack O bam a insists will transform what health care looks like. N o c h a rt fu ll o f d o c to rs ' scribbles hanging on the bed. No hauling around envelopes full of X-rays. No discharge with a p rescription slip. E ven the c la s s ic E R p a tie n t lis t h a s changed from the w hite-board o f TV -dram a fam e to a giant Dr. Max Rohrbaugh examines 6-month-old Riley Matthews as his mother watches at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. It can take days for the results of diagnostic tests to wind up in a hospital's paper chart, while only hours later, Riley's test results and long note from a lung specialist popped up in his digital chart. (AP photo) com puter screen. By the best count, only 1.5 percent of the nation's roughly 6,0(X) hospitals use a com pre­ hensive electronic record. Even that statistic belies how hard it will be for health care to jettison its 19th-century filing sy stem by 2 014, the federal governm ent's goal — despite the $ 19 billion that the economic stim ulus package is providing to help doctors start. It took Children's seven hard years and more than $ 10 million to evolve a system that lets its doctors check on patients with a few mouse clicks from any­ where and use speedily up-to- date records in directing their care. S tu d ie s sh o w e le c tro n ic medical records can greatly im ­ prove the quality o f patient care and reduce errors. But hospi­ tals w on't necessarily recoup their investment, because a pa­ tient w ho goes hom e sooner m eans lost revenue. So C ongress added a stick to th e c a r ro t o f th e s tim u lu s money: H ealth providers that aren't digital enough by 2015 will start losing M edicare dol- Study: Contraceptives Less Effective on Obese A new study p u b lish ed in the jo u rn al C o n tracep tio n has found that oral contracep tiv es m ay be less effec tiv e at p re ­ v en tin g p re g n a n c y in o b ese w om en. T he stu d y s u g g e ste d th a t it takes tw ice as long for c o n ­ tracep tiv es to reach the e ffe c ­ tiv e b lo o d c o n c e n tra tio n in o b e s e w o m e n , w h ic h m a y leave them open to b eco m in g p re g n a n t. A bout 30 p ercent o f w om en in the U .S. are obese. F o r O r­ egon, that nu m b er is ab o u t 23 percent. T h e stu d y su g g e ste d th a t th e b asic p ro b le m w as th a t o r a l c o n t r a c e p t i v e s w e re te s te d o n p e o p le w ith a h ea lth ier body w eight, w hich has left a b lin d spot fo r d o c­ to rs w ho m ay n o t be aw are o f h o w th e d ru g a f f e c ts v ery o v e rw e ig h t p e o p le . In fact, som e d o cto rs m ay p rescrib e a lo w er d o sag e fo r o bese p a­ tie n ts, fe a rin g th a t a h ig h e r dose w ill p ut them at g reater risk o f d ev elo p in g blood clots that can lead to stroke of heart attack . H ow ever, th e stu d y noted th a t it d id n ’t h a v e e n o u g h data to m ake a rec o m m en d a­ tion for how ph y sician s m ight ch an g e th eir clin ical p ractice fo r the use o f oral co n tra c e p ­ tiv es w ho are obese. O bese w om en w ho use oral c o n tra c e p tiv e s sh o u ld c o n ­ su lt w ith th eir doctor, rec o m ­ m ended the story. Finding your ‘Sole Mate’ this Summer Just because w e ’ve en tered the h o tte st d ays o f the su m ­ m er d o e s n 't m ean you should h id e in an a ir - c o n d itio n e d room w hile your body steadily accu m u lates fat. You can get som e sun and stay h ealthy by taking m orning or late evening w alks. T he A m erican H eart A sso ­ ciation has released a sum m er w alking guide, w hich can be found at s ta rtp d x .o rg . It in ­ cludes stretch in g tech n iq u es, tips on w hat to wear, w hen and w here to w alk, and w hat to eat b efo re and after w alking. It’s best to estab lish a reg u ­ lar tim e th a t you can stick to all su m m er long, p referab ly a tim e o th e r th a n a f te rn o o n Daily Activity for Health Providence health experts are reminding folks that adding just a little activity to your day can m ake a big difference in your fitness level. Clim bing stairs, weeding the garden, raking leaves, vacuum ­ ing, doing dishes and m ow ing ( the lawn can all help add up to a m ore active lifestyle. In a d d itio n to h o u s e h o ld chores, try including activities that are m ore recreational and involve your kids as well. Tossing a ball around, play­ ing ca tc h w ith b e a n b a g s or w hen the sun is hottest. T he A m erican H eart A sso ­ ciatio n reco m m en d s w alking at least 30 m in u tes a day. It co m b ats o b esity , w hich can ca u se a h o st o f o th e r p ro b ­ lems. w orking on your Frisbee flings can all provide great motivation for adding fun activity. You can also try taking a 10- m inute w alk around the block as a family. Your fitness level will increase - and so will your family fun. " Portland Observer Call 5(|3-288-(W33 ads (