Hospital deems new electronic health record necessary

Possibly you’ve heard the acronyms EHR or EMR in conversations around the hospital lately.

What do they stand for? Is there a difference between the two?

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EHR stands for “Electronic Health Record,” which sometimes is referred to as the Electronic Medical Record or “EMR.”

This is the collection of health information in a digital format that can be reformatted, organized and employed using decision support tools to improve health care. EHRs are a central feature of the National Health Information Network, which will eventually allow records to be available in whatever health care setting the patient chooses.

Still sound complicated?

The EHR actually has been a part of our campus for quite some time. GE’s Centricity Enterprise system was first implemented in 1994. It has been a useful system that has brought us into the electronic age.

However, the software is not progressing in a way that allows us to be as competitive and current with industry standards as we would like. The organization is now focused on replacing this electronic medical record system.

New system is needed

A new EHR system will provide the ability to track quality data and be more efficient. But this big decision and large investment that cannot and will not be made without the input of a variety of key stakeholders.

A “deep dive” session was held in June with 160 participants including private and academic physicians, executives and service line representatives. The group:

• Learned about the future of the EHR;
  
• Evaluated our needs; and
  
• Discussed industry solutions.

They found that our current system is not poised to meet our future needs and that resources would be better invested in a new EHR system.

Potential vendors contacted

Two vendors (Cerner and Epic) have been selected to move forward with further discussions. Webinars, hands-on site visits and extensive talks are currently taking place, with the goal of a final decision this fall. A group visited Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota last week to evaluate the use of Epic.

They found that Epic was efficient and intuitive to use in patient care, although it did require training and reorganization of work flow to become efficient.