RUMFORD – Computerizing patient records at Swift River Health Care, Rumford Hospital and Rumford Community Home will help prevent errors, give physicians and nurses vital information more quickly and make for easy transfer of those records to other health care providers.

The laboratory information system installed at Rumford Hospital last year was the first step. Now Rumford Community Home is being wired for computers with funds from a Maine Health Access Foundation grant.

Recently, conduits for computer cables were laid between Swift River Health Care and Rumford Hospital.

“This is the future of health care,” says John Welsh, Rumford Hospital chief executive officer. “Computerization of records will help us serve our patients even better.” In addition to providing efficient access to patient records, the linked computer systems will afford physicians entry to computerized medical information to support diagnosis and treatment.

The entire Central Maine Health Care system is involved in the computerization project, so the large volume of technology purchases creates economies of scale. Grants for rural health access are also supporting the project, which is expected to be completed in 2004.