Page 17 - Kadlec Regional Medical Center | 2012 Community Report

One Patient, One Chart
Kadlec Regional Medical Center and all Kadlec Clinics now have had more than a year
of experience with Epic Systems’ electronic health record (EHR) and the conversion has
been well worth it.
An EHR is software that gives medical providers the ability to create, store, edit and
access patient charts on a computer. Replacing paper charts with electronic ones allows
vital information to flow freely and securely, improving the efficiency and accuracy of
records. Best of all, EHRs greatly improve the patient experience because patients don’t
have to fill out paper forms every time they are treated.
Epic provides real-time access to a patient’s medical history, eliminating duplicate
paperwork and the need to physically transfer medical records from one site to another.
Wherever a patient is seen at a Kadlec facility (or any place using Epic), that person’s
entire health record is available to authorized members of the care team. In many cases
this speeds up diagnosis, reduces the risk of problems such as allergic reactions and
prevents unnecessary tests and procedures.
“Every time a patient sees a physician or gets a lab result, an entry is made in Epic,” ex-
plains Dave Roach, Kadlec chief information officer. “The next doctor or nurse who sees
that patient – whether it’s in West Richland or Pasco – can pull up the person’s complete
record with a few quick keystrokes.”
Built from the ground up as a fully integrated system, Epic manages clinical information,
registration, patient scheduling and billing. The software is used by many leading American
health systems, including the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Kaiser Permanente. In
this state, Epic is in place at Swedish, Group Health, MultiCare, Seattle Children’s and the
UW Physicians Network.
“The introduction of Epic is the
most exciting new attribute of
Kadlec Health System. It will
vastly improve portability of
patient information, address
the issue of meaningful use
and set us up to interface and
interact with other systems
across the region. We’re being
very progressive in
implementing our strategic
plan and truly becoming
world-class with our efforts.”
— Board Member
Wayne J. Martin, PhD
Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory