Pennsylvania Hospital Battles Computer Woes
Problems with Mount Nittany Health System's technological infrastructure continued into a second day Thursday, causing delays and forcing doctors to rely on paper records.
The hospital and its clinics remain open and operational despite suffering an infrastructure breakdown that has limited their phone service and shut down their computer system since Wednesday, according to spokeswoman Nichole Monica.
"We have lost some use of our computers or telephones, and as a result there may be some times that's going to cause frustration, as we're using methods that are not as fast as computer-based technology," Monica said. "We ask for patience as we seek to fix the problem."
The hospital has implemented a contingency protocol that will remain in place until the tech issue is resolved, Monica said.
"The process in place has been determined to deliver the highest possible quality care and is the safest for our patients," Monica said.
The hospital is still accepting new patients, and not giving recommendations to patients to seek care elsewhere. It is ready, Monica said, to handle an expected spike in emergency room visits as a result of State Patty's day, the student-planned day of drinking scheduled to take place Saturday.
"There is not going to be any interruption in patient services regardless of the volume of patients that come to the medical center," she said.
Monica acknowledged medical staff are unable to access patients' computerized medical records or patient histories, but said that is not jeopardizing patient safety.
"Our patients are not in danger," she said. "This is not going to cause health complications."
Patients reported the hospital's dysfunction was causing delays in treatment and a dropoff in care.
"I needed medication for my cough, and I couldn't get it," said Charles Lykens, who has been in the hospital for eight days as doctors looked into a persistently worsening cough. "I was told by my nurse that she can't call the pharmacy because they're overwhelmed."
Mary Manhart, whose husband was hospitalized three days ago, called the situation "unacceptable."
"I'm outraged people are not getting the care they need," she said.
Manhart's husband was given additional tests Thursday that led doctors to think he had appendicitis, not acute renal failure, as he was originally diagnosed.
"I'm worried we're not getting enough information" she said. "I'm of the mind that, if you cannot give us our information, we need to go somewhere else."
Such changes in diagnosis are not abnormal in the normal course of patient treatment, Monica said. The health system's medical staff is still able to function as medical experts without the use of computers, she said.
"We have people trained to diagnose and make appropriate decisions based on what resources they need to collect," she said. "They're using their critical thinking skills and their medical skills to ... be able to appropriately identify a treatment plan."
Monica did not say if patients will still be required to pay for any additional tests or treatments made necessary as a result of the technological failure.
"It's really difficult right now for us to determine if we ordered any (additional) tests, how those tests would be paid for," she said. "Right now, we're focusing on patient care ... Who's going to pay for those types of things is not what we're concerned with now. We need to make sure those patients are being provided with appropriate patient care as our first concern."
The communications system collapsed due to an "infrastructure failure," Monica said. She gave no timetable for its repair. Though it is temporarily inaccessible, patient data is secure, she said.
"There are expert teams on site trying to determine the root cause of the failure and why there was failure in backup systems, as well as trying to fix the system as quickly as possible," she said.
Copyright 2012 - Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
