Newsroom: Electronic Health Record (EHR)

As one of the first free-standing children's hospitals with a fully integrated electronic health record (EHR) system, Children's Hospital Colorado is a pioneer in enhancing the quality and continuity of care for patients. Sharing vital patient medical information through secure, encrypted Internet connections allows caregivers to more efficiently and accurately diagnose patients, recommend treatments and facilitate seamless care among providers.

Records are tightly organized, and all notes made about the patient's medical history are available on the EHR system without the worry that a notation or test result might be missing from a paper file.

Facts:

• Less than 2 percent of U.S. hospitals use EHR, according to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
• Children's Hospital Colorado, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Exempla Healthcare are currently in production with an inter-connected electronic health record (EHR) system called EPIC CareEverywhere. The patient record exchange program allows patients to show up at any one of the organizations’ hospitals or clinics and have their records instantly available to doctors with the click of a button. The partnership is pioneering the effort of independent U.S. health care organizations to share patient health records electronically, and it is a concrete example of how health care reform is taking place in Colorado.
• The EPIC CareEverywhere partnership gives physicians and other caregivers access to patient records electronically through secure technology whether they are at Children’s or a Children’s Hospital Network of Care location, which includes 16 Children’s Care Centers throughout Colorado and more than 400 outreach clinics or at any one of Exempla Healthcare or Kaiser Permanente’s clinics in Colorado.
• In June 2009, Children's Hospital Colorado completed the ambulatory implementation of PedsConnect, a fully integrated pediatric electronic health record and practice management system, at Pediatrics 5280 in Centennial, Colo. In September 2009, Cherry Creek Pediatrics became the second practice to implement the PedsConnect system. PedsConnect enables pediatricians and other healthcare providers throughout the community to efficiently access and share clinical patient data at the point of care, and helps ensure that every child receives the most effective and immediate care where and when they need it. Examples of clinical patient data available through PedsConnect includes information from a patient’s encounter with their primary care physician, Children's Hospital Colorado outpatient clinics, local pharmacies, laboratories and the immunization registry.

Benefits of Health Information Exchange

• A connected system offers health care providers access to all patient data available in one place, including potentially life-saving information such as complete clinical documentation, lab results, images, procedure reports and past medical history. This prevents delays in treatment and decision-making, and can prevent duplication of services and tests.
• Electronic health records are safer than verbal/written communication since they are more legible, and can help reduce the chance for medical errors that can occur when information is written down inaccurately or illegibly
• Fewer duplicate tests are performed on patients because the provider has access to previous test results.
• There is a reduction in treatment errors/hospital re-admissions because the provider has a more complete view of the patient's medical record (e.g., a hospital knows a patient is allergic to medication because it’s noted in their EHR and therefore does not administer the medication erroneously).
• Providers are able to evaluate a patient’s condition quicker and more accurately because they have a more complete view of the medical history.
• Physician orders go directly to the pharmacy, laboratory and other departments, improving response time and minimizing errors.
• After patients visit their physician, they can receive a printed summary of their visit and next steps.

Experts

David W. Kaplan, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Information Officer
Section Head, Adolescent Medicine

As the hospital's chief medical information officer since 1993, Dr. Kaplan has been at the forefront of the institution's multi-million-dollar technological upgrade to electronic health records (EHR). He has been section head of adolescent medicine since 1984 and is interested in studying the use of the Internet and social media channels for providing comprehensive physical and mental health information to adolescents. Read Dr. Kaplan's complete bio (.pdf)

Mary Anne Leach
Vice President
Chief Information Officer

Mary Anne Leach has established herself as a primary lead and expert in implementing the electronic health records initiative. In her short time at Children's, Ms. Leach has activated electronic prescribing; initiated Clinical Decision Support (CDS) rules and alerts for safer, more effective care; activated a flu vaccine alert; activated CareEverywhere in a partnership with Kaiser and Exempla, creating an Epic-to-Epic interoperable EHR; and initiated annual Epic-optimization work, including more than 60 optimization projects completed in 2008. Ms. Leach also led the PedsConnect initiative, which connects and integrates EHR with Children's community-based pediatricians. The first PedsConnect practice went live in June 2009 with registration, scheduling, ambulatory electronic medical records, billing, a LabCorps interface and a claims clearinghouse interface. Read Ms. Leach's complete bio (.pdf)

Testimonials

CareEverywhere has revolutionized the quality and efficiency of care delivery in the Emergency Medicine setting. By allowing clinicians to view patient records, laboratory studies and radiology studies, we are provided with necessary data that allows us to provide optimal clinical care in a timely fashion. In addition, we can decrease health care costs by not having to repeat tests. This type of medical record sharing should become the new paradigm for health care reform in the future.
-- Allison Brent, emergency medicine, Children's Hospital Colorado

I found it very useful...I used it to look up an antibiotic that the parents forgot the name of. I was able to pull up the clinician's note from Kaiser to look at what she had ordered. It was very easy to do, and I am now a big fan.
-- Eric Tham, M.D., emergency medicine, Children's Hospital Colorado

I thought EpicCare Everywhere was easy to use. It was useful clinically and I was able to get the info I was looking for without any problem. And, it was easy to navigate.
-- Shelley Miyamoto, M.D., cardiologist, Children's Hospital Colorado

It was a historic event, and I had the parents of the patient look on as the data emerged!
-- Michael Kappy, M.D., section head, endocrinology, Children's Hospital Colorado

The Obama administration has made it very clear that improving the nation’s health care system hinges partly on modernizing our industry with electronic health records, and then encouraging these systems to become more connected. As a pediatrician, I’ve seen the benefits of health-IT exchange first-hand. With quicker access to more information, I can now diagnose, treat and care for the children in my practice with even greater confidence and improved results.
-- Robert Miller, MD, of Kaiser Permanente

 

Recent Press & Resources

Three Denver area health care organizations link patient electronic health records to improve care and safety (press release, Nov 2009)

Dr. David Kaplan discusses the importance of electronic medical records (5280 magazine, Oct 2009)

CEO Chat: Electronic Health Record: Improving Quality and Safety for Our Patients (March 2009)

Governor Ritter Praises New Health Records System (Dec 2008)

Children's partners in nationally watched project (Stapleton Front Porch, Feb 2009)

Electronic medical records: Are we ready? (7News, April 2009)

Read about PedsConnect

Children's Hospital Colorado of Denver Implements the Nation's First Fully Integrated Pediatric EHR (Advance for Health Information Professionals, Feb 2008)

Children's Hospital Colorado implements nation's first fully integrated electronic medical record system (press release, Aug 2007)

Children's Hospital Colorado ranks first with paperless system (The Denver Post, Aug 2007)