Dear Answer Man, let’s see how good you are. I’ve heard that Mayo Clinic has a nickname for its big electronic records project with Epic Systems. What’s it called?
That’s too easy. Do you have a tougher question?
It’s called Plummer, a hat tip to the doc who many people believe was the brains of the Mayo operation about a hundred years ago. Dr. Henry Plummer is credited with devising the “integrated multispecialty group practice” at Mayo in 1910, which the clinic’s website calls “Mayo’s greatest contribution to medicine.”
Most people only know him today because of the grand golden-hued Plummer Building downtown and his personal castle on Pill Hill, but he was a true Renaissance man who added luster to the clinic in its golden age. Among his inventions and pet projects was the clinic’s medical records system and later the pneumatic tube network for sharing those records, so it’s appropriate that Mayo honors him in connection with its vast billion-dollar Epic project.
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I contacted Mother Mayo to confirm the Plummer code name and spokeswoman Rhoda Fukushima Madson responded with a few more details by email:
“More than 100 years ago, Dr. Henry Plummer recognized the importance of bringing all clinical information about a patient together in one place when he developed the concept of a single, integrated (paper) medical record at Mayo Clinic. Over time, innovations were made to Dr. Plummer’s system. The first digital version of a paper note was entered into Mayo Clinic’s electronic medical records in 1994.
“Mayo Clinic announced in January 2015 a collaboration with Epic to build a single, integrated system to replace three separate electronic health records with one electronic health record and revenue cycle management system. Implementation of the new system will begin in mid-2017. More than 50,000 Mayo staff will be trained to use the new technology.”
Rhoda says that, in addition to putting Plummer’s name on its Epic investment, it will “honor his legacy” during its Heritage Days events in October.
Dear Answer Man, I’ve noticed some work on Olmsted County Road 123 from 50th Avenue to County Raod 19. Are they planning to repave it? — Tony Zahasky
Sorry, Tony, that’s routine maintenance work done every year to shape it up after the winter, I’m told by Chad Schuman, the county highway maintenance engineer. “A paving project is not included in our Capital Improvement Program for this stretch of road,” he says.
Date: April 22, 2016