It's a massive, time-consuming and vital task to convert medical records, including hand-written notes and prescriptions, printed documents, images and lab reports, into digital form for permanent storage. The advantages, however, when the job is complete, are multiple, enabling not only better record-keeping, but enhanced care and improved doctor-patient relationships.
Initial transition to the multi-million-dollar electronic record-keeping system was met with skepticism and a sharp learning curve, according to St. John's Medical Center administrators. The medical group began its journey to digitization a year ago at its outpatient clinics and the hospital's records room is now paper-free, say officials. Full transfer of all patient records to digital form is expected to be complete by August.
Dr. James Crider, Epic's lead trainer for the hospital, notes that when patient records are fully digitized, the current necessity of maintaining paper records as well and electronic data will be eliminated, and the possibility of error will also be reduced.
The ongoing effort marks a milestone in consolidating patient information into online files, allowing sharing of records, faster access to those records, and a more complete picture of patient health and treatment. Medical professionals and facilities, as well as individual patients, all reap the benefits.
Physicians are more able to engage patients in their own care, states Rebecca Crowe, senior clinic manager at PeaceHealth Medical Group, which manages St John's. Even though the new system, named Epic, initially was met with some resistance by staff, the changeover has now been embraced fully by hospital personnel, she noted. The ability to call up records easily on a computer screen makes its easier to explain a diagnosis or detail a treatment plan for a patient. Patients are not only able to view their own records, but their caregivers also can react faster and find needed data quickly and more efficiently.
Despite some current "hiccups," said Dr. Crider, the hospital recognizes that adapting to the new protocol will improve performance dramatically, and is looking forward to full integration of the electronic record-keeping procedures.
The switch to the Epic system, which is called CareConnect locally, was begun last year in PeaceHealth hospitals throughout Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Scantronix, the entity which actually transforms the documents, has been engaged in converting paper records and medical charts into digital format since 1996.