Client News

MyChart

Research/Academics

Outcomes

Safety

Enterprise

MyChart

How Geisinger does it — Hospitals & Health Networks, January 2008

This article examines Geisinger Health System's approach to integration, focusing on its Epic EMR. In addition to an EMR that provides valuable information for improving screening programs for diseases and promoting cost effective care, thousands of patients are able to interact with their physicians through their MyGeisinger patient portal.

Physicians need IT to succeed in consumer-driven healthcare environment — Healthcare IT News, November 2007

C. Martin Harris, MD, Cleveland Clinic CIO and executive director of eCleveland Clinic, told online attendees at the HIMSS Virtual Conference & Expo that healthcare has "lagged behind" other industries in implementing technology that allows consumers to get more involved in their care. However, "the eCleveland Clinic MyChart PHR offers patients '24/7' access to their medical record, 'the same record the physician sees,' according to Harris. In addition to reviewing medical information and requesting prescription renewals, patients can use the MyChart PHR to 'track their health' using data-entry flowsheets. For instance, patients with diabetes can track blood glucose measurements."

Determinants of Personal Health Record Use — HIMSS Journal of Health Information Management, Summer 2007

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic extracted demographic and usage information on more than 60,000 users of the Epic MyChart system in an effort to determine what types of patients will most likely adopt the technology. Researchers determined that there was a relationship between the degree of Personal Health Record use and the number of both actual clinical encounters and diagnoses in the Electronic Medical Record problem list. They concluded that their MyChart portal sees more use from sicker patients who are greater consumers of healthcare.

Patient Web Services Integrated with a Shared Medical Record: Patient Use and Satisfaction — Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, July 2007

This study by Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, WA, explores patient satisfaction with various MyChart features. The authors concluded that tight integration between the organization's clinical information system and services offered via their MyChart patient portal may be important in patient satisfaction.

Research/Academics

Evaluation and Long-Term Prognosis of New-Onset, Transient, and Persistent Anemia in Ambulatory Patients With Chronic Heart Failure — Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2008

To perform this study, The Cleveland Clinic reviewed 6,159 consecutive outpatients with chronic stable heart failure. Clinical, demographic, laboratory, and echocardiographic data were reviewed from their Epic electronic medical records between 2001 and 2006. The results of the study suggest that anemia in patients with heart failure is under-recognized and underevaluated.

Electronic Medical Records And Outreach Improve Osteoporosis Care, Kaiser Permanente Study Shows — Medical News Today, October 2007

The use of EMRs, along with e-mail messages, letters and phone calls to patients after a bone fracture can dramatically improve the diagnosis and management of the patient's osteoporosis, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This is the largest study to show that electronic medical records improve the continuity of care for osteoporosis.

Underdiagnosis of Hypertension in Children and Adolescents — Journal of the American Medical Association, August 2007

This study, a 7 year retrospective using all Epic data of about 15,000 patients and about 50,000 visits, showed that about 3 in 4 children with hypertension (based on data in Epic) are not being diagnosed by their pediatric providers (based on ICD-9 codes in Epic). The primary author, David Kaelber, MD, PhD, was able to complete this study in ~100 hours of work with 2 medical school students, and without any budget. He estimates that the equivalent non-Epic study would have taken thousands of hours to complete at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This study was recognized by the American Heart Association in its list of the Top 10 Research Advances of 2007.

Using Electronic Medical Records to Enhance Detection and Reporting of Vaccine Adverse Events — Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, August 2007

Researchers developed an enhancement to the EpicCare EMR as used at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (HVMA) to assist clinicians with recognizing adverse reactions to vaccines, and to simplify reporting. HVMA's adverse event reporting rate using this feature was almost six times greater than the national rate during the time period evaluated.

Outcomes

Kaiser Permanente Southern California leads the nation in breast cancer screening — Market Watch

A recent report by the National Committee on Quality Assurance shows that Kaiser Permanente in Southern California has the highest breast cancer screening rate for women aged 52 to 69. Kaiser Permanente's electronic medical record system, KP HealthConnect, flags the file of each woman who is due for a mammogram.

Electronic Medical Records And Outreach Improve Osteoporosis Care, Kaiser Permanente Study Shows — Medical News Today, October 2007

The use of EMRs, along with e-mail messages, letters and phone calls to patients after a bone fracture can dramatically improve the diagnosis and management of the patients' osteoporosis, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This is the largest study to show that electronic medical records improve the continuity of care for osteoporosis.

Data drives HealthPartners to annual NQF award — Modern Healthcare, March 2007

HealthPartners was selected as the 14th recipient of the National Quality Forum (NQF) annual National Quality Healthcare Award, conducted in partnership with Modern Healthcare magazine. HealthPartners was recognized for its "proactive and exemplary response to the national call for quality improvement and accountability."

Safety

Care Everywhere worldwide debut links physician and hospital medical records — Talbert Medical Center

The press release announces the first time a patient had her medical records linked between Epic organizations via Care Everywhere. Francine Fox's medical records were shared between Talbert Medical Group and Long Beach Memorial (part of MemorialCare). According to Francine's physician, "Care Everywhere enables me to provide timely, appropriate care through better knowledge of the patient's medical history and overall condition. In this instance, I felt more comfortable and confident in taking care of my patient, knowing that I was able to see both her physician office visit and hospital records at the same time."

Excellian plays a key factor in the recovery of a stroke victim — Excellian Update, August 2006

Excellian (Allina Hospitals and Clinics' name for the Epic product suite) helped an ED physician at Abbott Northwestern hospital provide prompt, accurate treatment to a patient suffering from a stroke. Timing is critical when it comes to treating someone having a stroke, as oxygen-starved nerve cells in the affected of the brain will likely die if normal blood flow is not re-established within three hours. More than two hours had passed between the patient's wife noticing the symptoms of the stroke to their arrival at the ED. "Before Excellian, completing this many tests in less than an hour would have been nearly impossible," the physician says. "It would have required phone calls to many different departments to coordinate logistics and by the time the results were relayed back, it likely would have been too late."

Hospitals see improvements as part of 100,000 Lives Campaign — AHANews.com, June 2006

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has recognized MultiCare Health System's Tacoma General and Allenmore hospitals, which operate under one license, as a mentor hospital. Mentor hospitals achieved dramatic improvements in implementing some or all of the interventions in the IHI's 100,000 Lives Campaign.

Enterprise

CCHIT Certifies Epic EHR in Enterprise, Inpatient, and ED Categories

The CCHIT has certified Epic products in three electronic health record (EHR) categories for 2008. Epic was the only vendor awarded certification in the enterprise category (vendors that provide comprehensive and interoperable ambulatory, inpatient, and emergency department EHRs). EpicCare Inpatient was also the only application to receive CCHIT certification under the 2008 inpatient EHR criteria. Epic's ASAP was one of three Emergency Department products to receive certification.

Kaiser Permanente has most hospitals in the nation with inpatient electronic health record — The Earth Times

Kaiser Permanente has completed its inpatient EHR rollout to all 12 of its southern California hospitals, bringing its live hospital total to 22. This gives them more live hospitals than any other non-government healthcare system in the nation. "This milestone reinfoes Kaiser Permanente's position as the industry leader in leveraging health information technology to improve patient care and service," said Dr. John Mattison, chief medical information officer, assistant medical director, and director of the KP HealthConnect program for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.

Mercy unveils Epic program — The Fort Scott Tribune

Mercy Health Center, a facility in the Mercy Health System, went live last week on Epic. The article describes their transition from their Meditech EMR, which "only allowed for a partial electronic record." According to a Mercy press release, "The change to a new computer system will benefit patients because when they are seen at a rural Mercy clinic or emergency location, healthcare providers will be able to work from the same consolidated, continuously updated electronic record, creating real-time access to information."

Doctors have allies with computers — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 2007

EMR supporters say they are making healthcare safer and more effective. Doctors don't need to rely on memory to keep up with the latest medical advances. An emergency room doctor and electronic records specialist at Allina noted that they may see 100 different medical conditions, and that "there's no way somebody can remember or keep up on the reading to know what's best for each of those conditions."

Rx for doctors' scribbles — Orange County Register, October 2006

While some hospitals have a portion of their patient records and ordering systems computerized, Saddleback Memorial is the first hospital in the county to have a comprehensive, nearly paperless system that physicians routinely use, said Scott Joslyn, MemorialCare's chief information officer. MemorialCare's other four hospitals will follow suit. With the new system, Dr. David Lagrew, the hospital's chief of staff, said he has already seen an improvement in patient care. His patient rounds to high-risk pregnancy mothers have become more efficient. He is no longer searching for patient clipboards or trying to stop a doctor in the hall to catch up on a patient's progress. "It gives you a complete picture of the patient," Lagrew said. "Right there in front of you."