Health Center transitioning to electronic medical records

Starting next month, patient care providers at the Health Center’s John Dempsey Hospital will have electronic access to patients’ medical records.

The Health Center is preparing to introduce eHIMS, which stands for “electronic Health Information Management System.”

“This will give our health care providers password-protected online access to all-inclusive hospital-based medical records for discharged patients and hospital-based ancillary testing from anywhere,” says Elena Albini, director of health information management.

“Our goal is to have records scanned into the eHIMS system within 24 hours of discharge, and they will be instantly accessible once scanned.”

A patient’s eHIMS record will include his or her entire chart as it currently exists in paper format, including all handwritten documents, dictated reports, and electronically fed reports. It will be considered that patient’s legal medical record after discharge.

“The patient’s chart will always be accessible,” says Dr. Richard Simon, chief of the medical staff. “No more trips to Medical Records, and no more waiting for medical records to be pulled.”

Going paperless also allows simultaneous access to patient information, editing of dictated reports, completion of incomplete records, and signature approvals, which will be done electronically and remotely.

“In the dark hours of the night, being able to immediately access data from prior hospital stays is priceless,” says Dr. Daniel McNally, who chairs the Health Center’s Health Information Management Committee.

“With this we will be able to access our hospital records and hospital-based services data whenever it’s needed, and not have to count on someone finding a chart. That’s a big safety issue.”

Handwritten documents in the patient’s record, such as progress notes, flow sheets, nursing notes, assessments, advance directives, and care plans, will be scanned.

Other documents that will be part of a patient’s eHIMS record include discharge summaries, operative reports, lab reports, radiology reports, and anatomic pathology reports.