At midnight on May 1, Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital transitioned to Electronic Health Record (EHR). The hospital became the first rural hospital in the state to implement a fully state-of-the-art electronic health records system. In this endeavor, it joined the many hospitals and healthcare providers across the nation transitioning to a paperless healthcare delivery system. This project reinforces the hospital’s commitment to quality, accessible, personalized healthcare.
“It enhances patient safety, improves efficiency, and allows a means to capitalize on the continuous changes in medical technologies,” said John Bartos, CEO. “The electronic health record is a patient’s complete health record, including office visits, laboratory tests, radiology, and all other services rendered. It is sure to improve the delivery of care for our patients.”
The patient’s electronic health record is secured by many levels of protection. This shared information allows for better care coordination and eliminates repetitive tests, ultimately saving time and money, and increasing patient satisfaction.
The Hospital board, administration, medical staff and entire hospital team embraced the Electronic Health Record project. This project has taken nearly three years to reach the May 1 conversion date; this is step one of the project. The partnership selection process resulted in Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital collaborating with Cerner Corporation to design and implement a secure electronic health record system. Cerner is recognized for transforming healthcare through integrated software and service solutions at over 9000 medical facilities around the world licensing Cerner products, including Mayo Clinic, Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
“The additional phases of the electronic health record project include integrating with regional hospital facilities and local independent medical practices,” said Bartos.
Healthcare has been through many transitions but a companywide transition to an electronic medical record is one of the largest a hospital can undertake. There are hundreds of hours of planning, building and training to get to this point. Now that Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital, its medical clinics and services have transitioned to electronic health record, the administrative staff is asking patients for a little bit of help and patience as they move through the transition. During the transition, to expedite the registration process, patients are being asked to have their personal identification and health insurance information available, so that their information can be verified in the new system. Brief delays may happen during this transition and the hospital is thanking the public in advance for patience during this time.