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DAN PORRECA: The biggest city is Buffalo,
but we also have very rural counties
that make up the eight counties of Western New York.
The biggest challenge is, right now, just communication.
Previously, a patient would come in
after having seen a specialist three months ago.
The specialist sent them for a lab.
They've forgotten what it was.
They don't remember where they went.
They just know they went.
What this physician would have to do is have her staff
start calling around every lab in the community --
"Did you see Mrs. Jones?"
Today, what she does is log in to a Web site
with the patient's consent, pulls down all the lab --
all the information that's available.
So administratively, it's fantastic, and they know
they get all the information about that patient.
If a physician has medication history on a patient,
the ability to prescribe the right medication
avoids an emergency room visit, which saves money.
We have some success stories
from E.D. physicians, where they've talked about having
a 28-year-old female patient who they were able
to avoid radiation exposure because they had
radiology results from a different hospital.
We can learn from others, and I think others can learn from us.
I think every one of our communities
have something to offer, and I think that's the whole premise
behind the Beacon, is to give the rest of the nation
something to look at.