HEALTH & FITNESS
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Henry Ford uses technology to make
IBD treatment seamless.
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A30 January 31 • 2008
Ai
p
aperwork, appointments,
tests — they're all necessary
when you're being treated for
inflammatory bowel disease or any
other medical condition. But a gastro-
enterologist at the Henry Ford Center
for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
has powerful electronic tools at her
disposal that help to make the conti-
nuity of care a more seamless process
for her patients.
Ann Silverman, M.D., section chief
of gastroenterology at Henry Ford
West Bloomfield Hospital and the
director of the Inflammatory Bowel
Disease Center, uses the comprehen-
sive electronic medical record system
CarePlus to deliver care to her patients.
The system serves as an electronic
repository for all Henry Ford Health
System medical records, imaging stud-
ies, lab results and consultations.
This electronic record is accessible
from anywhere a patient seeks care
within Henry Ford's system, which
not only saves time for clinicians and
patients alike; it also significantly
decreases the possibility of medical
errors and is much more efficient than
traditional paper record systems.
Henry Ford was one of the first
health systems in the country to use
the CarePlus system. It also was a
pioneer in the use of e-Prescribing,
a system that allows physicians to
write prescriptions from a personal
computer or wireless device and send
them directly to pharmacies.
"E-Prescribing reduces harmful
drug interactions by alerting physi-
cians to possible risks, while increas-
ing generic utilization rates and
eliminating illegible hand-written .
prescriptions that can lead to medica-
tion errors',' says Dr. Silverman. "Both
CarePlus and e-Prescribing have
increased patient safety significantly
while making my job much easier."
Streamlining paperwork this way
is especially important for physicians
like Dr. Silverman, who runs Henry
Ford's busy IBD center in Novi. The
center offers diagnostic and treat-
ment services for inflammatory bowel
diseases like Crohn's and ulcerative
colitis, as well as specialized services
and complication prevention, psycho-
therapy and patient education.
Dr. Ann Silverman
It's a way to provide a "one-stop
shopping" experience for IBD patients
who often need multiple services to
bring their condition under control.
The center will also be offering
clinical trial options to patients who
have failed conventional therapy.
According to the Crohn's & Colitis
Foundation of America, IBD is the
collective name for various chronic
digestive disorders of the intestines.
It is estimated that about 1.4 million
Americans have IBD, most of whom
are young adults between the ages of
15 and 35. However, IBD can affect
people of any age, and the condition
is very common among individuals of
Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
In addition to IBD's unpleasant
symptoms, which include diarrhea,
abdominal pain and rectal bleeding,
one of the most serious consequences
for patients with IBD — particularly
those with long-term ulcerative colitis
or Crohn's disease that involves the
entire colon — is the potential to
develop colon cancer. This makes care-
ful management of IBD crucial, both
to safeguard health and to improve
quality of life for those affected. El
The Henry Ford Center for
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
can be reached at (248) 344-
4147. It's located at Henry Ford
Medical Center - Columbus,
39450 W.12 Mile Road, Novi.