Lexington Medical Center names Anna Shalkham, MD, as Chief Medical Informatics Officer
May 1, 2016
WEST COLUMBIA, SC – Lexington Medical Center is pleased to announce that Anna Shalkham, MD, Emergency Medicine physician at Lexington Medical Center, has become the hospital’s new Chief Medical Informatics Officer. In this role, Dr. Shalkham will use information technology to help the hospital plan and implement applications including electronic health records, health information exchanges and other resources used in clinical settings.
“With clinical informatics, I will combine my clinical and technology backgrounds to improve patient safety, electronic health records and interoperability across Lexington Medical Center’s network of care,” Dr. Shalkham said. “The goal is to provide the most outstanding care to our patients while using state-of-the-art technology to document and learn from their medical history.”
Dr. Shalkham is board certified in clinical informatics, a designation that only eleven people in South Carolina have achieved. She also holds board certification in emergency medicine and a master’s degree in public health. She has been a doctor at Lexington Medical Center for nearly ten years. In her new position, she will split her time between ER patient care and clinical informatics.
Clinical informatics can improve a patient’s experience in a variety of way, including safety. The technology creates alerts to warn doctors of potential drug interactions, dosing errors and duplicate medications. It also allows clinicians to access a patient’s comprehensive medical record with just a few clicks and supports evidenced-based medicine.
Over the next year, Dr. Shalkham will help Lexington Medical Center to integrate the electronic health record system that it uses in ambulatory settings including physician practices with its inpatient system. This integration will provide easier and more timely access to patient information and improve patient safety measures.
“I look forward to helping Lexington Medical Center achieve its mission of providing quality health services that meet the needs of our community,” Dr. Shalkham said.
About Lexington Medical Center
Lexington Medical Center, in West Columbia, S.C., anchors a health care network that includes six community medical centers throughout Lexington County and employs a staff of 6,000 health care professionals. The network also includes comprehensive cardiovascular and oncology care affiliated with Duke Medicine, an occupational health center, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas and 58 physician practices. At its heart is the 414-bed state-of-the-art Lexington Medical Center, with a reputation for the highest quality care. Lexington Medical Center has won “Best Hospital” by readers of The State for 13 years, “Best Hospital” by readers of the Free Times, “Best Place to Have a Baby” by readers of Palmetto Parent and The State, the “Consumer Choice Award” from the National Research Corporation and the prestigious “Summit Award” from Press Ganey for outstanding patient satisfaction. Visit LexMed.com
