State officials are asking the Georgia Legislature to wage $105 cardinal successful payer dollars toward a caller physics aesculapian records strategy for the Medical College of Georgia, portion of Augusta University.
The caller records strategy would amended operations astatine Augusta University Medical Center and different facilities nether the Augusta University Health System, according to schoolhouse officials and documents.
The petition comes arsenic Cobb County-based Wellstar Health System is negotiating a woody to partner with AU Health System and perchance instrumentality it over. Officials person not specified whether Wellstar would instrumentality fiscal power implicit the wellness system.
Augusta University President Brooks Keel said the aesculapian assemblage needs to upgrade its records strategy “regardless of whether a concern is established with Wellstar.” Such updates person been sought for much than 7 years but didn’t hap due to the fact that of “financial constraints,” helium said successful a written statement.
The assemblage would lend different $10 cardinal to the effort.
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue told lawmakers astatine a caller fund proceeding that doing the task alone, without Wellstar’s expertise oregon unit support, would outgo up to $185 million.
“The concern with Wellstar is simply a amended worth due to the fact that they’ve gone done this. They’ve implemented that,” Perdue said.
The aesculapian college’s existent physics records strategy is inefficient, sometimes requiring clinics to usage outdated “paper and pencil” methods to docket patients and measure insurance, according to University System documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution done an open-records request.
The outdated strategy besides makes it cumbersome to place patients who are eligible for objective trials, and aesculapian students request the accidental to larn connected a modern system.
“This is simply a ample ask, we surely admit that,” Keel told lawmakers. “But it gives america a accidental to beforehand our physics aesculapian records truthful we tin supply that benignant of training.”
ExploreWellstar, Augusta University Health processing program for a partnershipGeorgia House Speaker Jon Burns, speaking to reporters astatine a caller property conference, told the AJC helium didn’t spot the $105 cardinal petition arsenic a acquisition to Wellstar should a woody spell through.
“I deliberation the Medical College of Georgia is important to each Georgians crossed this full state, arsenic is the Children’s Hospital of Georgia that’s a portion of that. It’s providing wellness attraction not lone successful agrarian Georgia, but each crossed our state. There’s immoderate modernization that’s concern that we needed to marque arsenic a arsenic citizens of this authorities into the Medical College of Georgia,” helium said.
University officials announced successful December they mean to spouse with Wellstar. Wellstar did not respond to a petition for remark for this story.
The Medical College of Georgia is the state’s lone nationalist aesculapian school. It has partnerships with physicians and hospitals crossed Georgia.
Perdue told lawmakers that assemblage officials approached respective entities astir creating a concern and that Wellstar “was the past radical standing.” He said the pact includes safeguards to marque definite the authorities is protected, and the woody volition acquisition lawyer wide reappraisal earlier it’s finalized.
Wellstar successful its past posted fiscal connection from 2021 declared much than $2 cardinal successful nett assets. In 2022, Wellstar closed Atlanta Medical Center successful downtown Atlanta, 1 of the state’s fewer Level 1 trauma centers, and Atlanta Medical Center South successful East Point.
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