Illinois Hospital Secures $900K Grant for Epic EHR Implementation
The USDA grant enabled the small Illinois hospital to implement the Epic EHR system, fostering better care coordination with larger hospitals.
Hamilton Memorial Hospital District (HMHD) has been awarded nearly $900,000 through the USDA's Emergency Rural Health Care grant, significantly contributing to the costs of its Epic EHR implementation.
“For years, using the same highly coordinated Epic EHR in our rural communities that are used throughout the nation had been a seemingly unreachable goal,” said Victoria Woodrow, chief executive officer of Hamilton Memorial Hospital District.
“Now, electronically connecting our local healthcare services and patients through Epic is a reality which will both better coordinate and improve the quality of care provided to the patients we serve.”
A partnership with the larger SSM Health system enabled HMHD to effectively roll out its Epic EHR system across the organization.
This agreement with SSM Health improved care coordination between HMHD and SSM facilities and facilitated patient data sharing with other Epic organizations.
“We collaborate closely with larger health systems because we rely on them for higher levels of care patient transfers and specialty care that is sometimes unavailable locally – Epic allows for valuable clinical information to seamlessly follow the patient,” said Rodney Miller, MD, medical staff president of Hamilton Memorial Hospital.
To guarantee a smooth EHR implementation, over 40 IT professionals and clinicians from SSM Health collaborated closely with HMHD. SSM Health is a non-profit, Catholic health system that operates 23 hospitals across four states, including Illinois.
Senior Healthcare Provider Merges Four EHRs into One MEDITECH EHR
A recent MEDITECH Expanse EHR implementation is driving a significant transformation at Hebrew SeniorLife, consolidating four disparate EHRs into one for a more streamlined view of patient health.
MEDITECH Expanse was selected as the preferred EHR due to its proficiency in unifying care across various settings, such as long-term chronic care, post-acute care, outpatient services, home care, and hospice, as confirmed by the hospital.
Given the longevity of Hebrew SeniorLife's patient relationships, the organization said it was essential to adopt an EHR that could effectively capture extensive medical histories important to both patients and their families.
“Health goals for our senior care residents may be different than for other patients,” said Eric Rogers, CIO at Hebrew SeniorLife “Instead of having a goal to lower blood pressure, our patients may just be hoping to gain mobility so they can travel to their grandchild’s upcoming wedding. We want this information to be reflected in the EHR so that the entire care team can work with the patient to make it happen.”
The patient portal incorporated within this system aims to allow providers to add reports on a resident's activities regularly. Additionally, changes in a patient's routine or social activities will be recorded alongside medical information, providing a more holistic picture of their overall well-being.
“A traditional patient portal falls short of what patients and families need in the world of Senior Care,” said Tammy Retalic, chief nursing officer and chair of the Family Advisory Council at Hebrew SeniorLife.
“Having the ability for family members to see what activities their loved ones have attended in addition to having access to the medical information is a unique feature of this initiative,” Retalic added. “Partnering with MEDITECH in the development and early adoption of a reimagined patient and family portal ensures that the features are user-friendly for family and patients. Our family advisory council is very excited about this pioneering insight into important social determinants of health for their loved ones.”
FQHC Enhances Patient Engagement with eClinicalWorks EHR
Mountain Park Health Center, a healthcare provider with facilities in Goodyear, Tempe, and Phoenix, Arizona, has reported patient engagement improvements following the introduction of the eClinicalWorks EHR system.
Upon Leveraging eClinicalWorks and healow solutions, including text message reminders and providers' calendar access, the practice has seen an increase in appointment bookings, rising from 40 percent to 61 percent.
Servicing over 100,000 patients with close to 400,000 annual encounters, the healthcare organization faces larger administrative demands than smaller practices, the center pointed out.
“Since our partnership began 12 years ago, we have transformed our operations through eClinicalWorks’ innovative and thoughtful solutions, which allows us to efficiently prioritize our patients by meeting them where they are and improving the quality of care,” said Amy Nuñez, IT director of clinical applications and training at Mountain Park Health Center. “With healow Open Access, we drastically increased the overall number of appointments by providing patients access to providers’ availability. This has improved compliance rates, which ultimately improves patients’ health outcomes.”
However, the utilization of the eClinicalWorks EHR and associated patient engagement tools helped the center maintain proactive care while managing patient accessibility effectively.
Additionally, these tools offered the center the ability to survey patients who do not show up for appointments, providing insights into the reasons behind these missed visits.
“With the eClinicalWorks EHR and healow patient engagement solutions, Mountain Park Health Center can support its providers with the tools they need to better serve patients in a timely manner," said Girish Navani, co-founder and CEO of eClinicalWorks. “Expanding access to data and providing patients with streamlined modes of communication helps enhance the patient-provider experience overall.”