Electronic Health Records continue to advance
Cody Progress Edition - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - F-3
West Park Hospital will be an excellent regional healthcare
provider by putting the patient first.
MISSION
To provide excellence and leadership in community healthcare.
VISION
INtegrIty
Honesty and ethics in communication, finance, resources, time
and in the services we provide.
COMpaSSION
Sensitivity and concern for the physical, emotional and spiritual
needs of the people we serve and each other.
reSpONSIbIlIty
Dependability, accountability and recognizing issues and working
together toward their solutions.
Key ValUeS
the bIg hOrN baSIN’S regIONal MedICal CeNter
GREAT
COMMUNITY
HOSPITALS
BECKER’S
100
ACCESS
HOSPITAL
TOP
100
CRITICAL
Friday, April 11
th
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Come view our new expansion of the office!
Refreshments will be served
Cathcart Health Center
Internal Medicine Specialty Clinic
Formerly Primary Care Clinic
Our Name Change:
Rachael Bracke, M.D.
Internal Medicine
Andrew Rashkow, M.D.
Cardiology
Rebecca Danforth, M.D.
Cardiology
Richard Anderson, M.D.
Internal Medicine
Offices of:
Announcing...
424 Yellowstone Avenue, Suite 230 •
307.578.2975
E
lectronic Health
Records (EHR)
continue to advance at
West Park Hospital, with fully
integrated EHR and patient
care transformation expected
later this year.
An EHR is a collection of
patient health information.
It includes patient
demographics, progress notes,
problems, medications, vital
signs, past medical history,
immunizations, laboratory
data and radiology reports.
West Park Hospital
currently is preparing to
begin using Computer
Physician Order Management
(CPOM)in late spring and is
conducting several trainings
to be ready.
“We’ve had everyone deeply
involved with the process
because what we’re doing
effects everyone,” IT director
Sharon Phelps says.
CPOM is a safer way to
deliver patient care as the
orders are typed and linked to
evidence-based resources to
support good care decisions.
“The big goal is to increase
efficiency, patient safety
and evidence-based care,”
says Dr. Adair Bowlby, M.D.,
an advocate for the EHR
committee.
Currently, physicians write
out their orders on paper and
someone else transfers that
data into the system. When
CPOM goes live, physicians
will put their own orders
directly into the
system.
“It’s a major change
for them,” Phelps says.
“Physicians are taught a
rigorous method of how to
structure things and this
completely changes it to a
different process. It’s a huge
step in a different direction.”
West Park has been in
the process of switching to
EHR since the 1990s. They
went live with Meditech
Magic, which features a
user interface that makes
applications easy to use
and simple network
administration, in 1999.
“We started using
computers in the clinical
areas in the early and mid
’90s and then switched to
Meditech Magic to start
the process of going to full
electronic health records,”
Phelps says.
With the American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA), the
process picked up speed.
ARRA provided $19.2 billion
in funding for hospitals and
physician practices that adopt
a certified electronic health
record system (EHR).
They updated to Meditech
6.0 in December 2011 and
continued adding modulars
including home health/hospice
and physician clinic/billing in
2012. The “All In” – All Users,
All Information, All Electronic
– initiative began in 2013, with
CPOM being the next phase of
the ongoing process.
Physicians doing their
own orders creates a more
streamlined process.
“We are redesigning
our workflows to reduce
opportunity for error,” Dr.
Bowlby says. “Physician’s
orders will be linked to
evidence-based medicine and
up-to-the-minute research. It
will allow physicians to find
the best treatment for their
patients.”
CPOM also will better help
physicians meet quality care
standards established by
Medicare and Medicaid.
Historically, health care
providers were reimbursed
by insurance companies
based on production. But this
has been changing in recent
years.
The quality measures
date can be accessed online
and allows people to make
an educated decision
about where to get
their care. Under CPOM,
physicians entering their
orders will be able to ensure
they’re meeting all measures.
“It guides us through the
process so we can monitor
that data,” Dr. Bowlby says.
Initially, they expect the
order process to become
slower as physicians adjust to
the new way of doing things,
but Phelps says they expect it
to be “time neutral” by next
year.
Eventually, West Park
would like to use the
information they gather to
look at the health of larger
groups of the population.
“It’s in its infancy,” Dr.
Bowlby says. “Right now we
just want to use it to allow
physicians to make the quality
choice and the safest choice on
a daily basis.”
To allow patients
better access
to their health
information, West
Park Hospital
will begin using a
Patient Portal in
April.
“It’s engaging
patients in their
care and giving
them more access
to their results and
health information,”
IT director Sharon
Phelps says.
The portal will
give patients access
to a variety of
records, including
personal health
information and test
results. They’ll also
be able to request
prescription refills.
“The portal will
give our patients
access to certain
parts of our system
online,” Technology
Financial Specialist
Tim McIssac
says. “It also will
eventually include a
billing system.”
After the portal
goes live in April,
patients who
meet certain
requirements will
be able to use the
portal, with the
goal of eventually
opening it to
everyone.
New Patient
Portal begins
this April
“
”
Dr. Adair Bowlby, M.D.,
EHR committee
We are redesigning our workflows to
reduce opportunity for error, physician’s
orders will be linked to evidence-based
medicine and up-to-the-minute research.
It will allow physicians to find the best
treatment for their patients.”
