Highland Hospital Transitions to Electronic Health Record System
June 12, 2011
Employees Launch eRecord
This weekend Highland Hospital went live with "eRecord" - an electronic health record (EHR) system that is dramatically integrating care delivery across all University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) hospitals and ambulatory clinics. Strong Memorial Hospital launched eRecord in March, and URMC outpatient services will go live with eRecord by summer 2012.
"The launch of eRecord at Highland marks another major milestone in the Medical Center’s strategic plan to improve safety and quality," said URMC CEO Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. "We fully expect eRecord to produce the same benefits at Highland as we have experienced at Strong. The system not only makes us more efficient, but it also helps us deliver a safe, patient- and family-centered care experience that our patients and their loved ones deserve."
The eRecord platform ensures all critical patient information is accessible to the entire care team across all settings of care. The system aggregates important allergy information, medication lists, test results, physician notes and more - all on one screen.
"More than 2,000 Highland employees prepared and trained for the launch of eRecord for months," said Steven I. Goldstein, president and CEO of Strong Memorial Hospital and Highland Hospital. "Because of their significant efforts, we expect eRecord will continue to improve care coordination and consistency across units, support services and hospitals."
Most importantly, eRecord promises to enhance patient care safety. Perhaps the most dramatic example of eRecord’s safety advantages is its bar-coded medication administration technology, which allows nurses to use handheld scanners (like those used in check-out lanes) to verify the right patient receives the right dose of the right medicine at the right time.
Designed and built with the help of Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, eRecord represents an investment of $78 million. Nearly 10,000 providers and staff at Strong transitioned to the system in March.
The rollout at Highland includes its inpatient units, Emergency Department and pharmacy.
In addition, eRecord will be compatible with Rochester’s RHIO (Regional Health Information Organization) initiative to digitize medical records and share critical health information community-wide. Community physicians who refer to Strong Memorial or Highland hospitals will also be able to access eRecord to learn important details about their patients’ hospital stays.