Worcester – Dr. Larry Garber, an internist and the Medical Director for Informatics at Reliant Medical Group, has been named one of six recipients of the Health Data Management's “2011 EHR Game Changers” award.
“We'se entered into an age where advanced electronic health records are becoming standard practice,” said Reliant's Chief Medical Officer Robin Richman, MD. “Having Larry lead the charge at Reliant Medical Group has helped position this organization as an industry leader when it comes to using this type of technology to provide better care and service to our patients.”
According to an announcement released by Health Data Management, “Health Data Management launched the EHR Game Changers program in 2010 to honor individuals who have been true game changers in the design, advocacy, deployment and development of electronic health records (EHR) technology. This program is open to individuals…who have helped in the evolution of EHR technology and its increasing adoption by provider organizations.”
Garber was selected for this award based on his leadership in developing new EHR technology. He was the principal investigator on a project, known as the Secure Architecture for Exchanging Health Information (SAFE Health), which was written by the IT Department at Reliant Medical Group (known as Fallon Clinic at the time) with the support of a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The SAFE Health program, touted as one of AHRQ's “Success Stories” in 2009, helps simplify the patient consent process, and integrates clinical data into other EHRs. He is currently heading up a three-year, $2 million health information exchange (HIE) project that will improve communication during the transfer of patients between hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies, and their primary care physicians.
Reliant Medical Group, formerly Fallon Clinic, is an independent group of physicians conveniently located throughout Central Massachusetts. For more information on Reliant Medical Group, please visit us at: www.reliantmedicalgroup.org.
