Oakwood Goes High-Tech With New Electronic Medical Records System

Physicians with tablets. Voice-dictated notes. Bluetooth barcodes on hospital wristbands. An interconnected system of patient information, accessible by any facility. It's all part of Oakwood Healthcare's implementation of the EPIC electronic medical records system.

And it starts at in Dearborn.

On Aug. 1, the Dearborn hospital will be first in Oakwood's family to transition to new software. The system will then be rolled out at Oakwood's three other hospitals within the next year, followed by offices and private practices in the network.

Matthew Zimmie, MD, medical director of information technology for Oakwood, explained that the system is expected to improve the safety of patient care and simplify access to patient information, all while increasing security of patient information.

"The availability of all the information, the fact that it doesn’t have to be transcribed, the fact that it’s typewritten–this is all increasing the safety and the timeliness of the care that we’re delivering," Zimmie said of the electronic records. And the scannable barcode on each patient's wristband will allow staff to "check for appropriate doses of medication, check against patient allergies ... and check against the patient’s medication list to make sure there’s no interactions," he said.

"It’s a lot of information in the blink of an eye–in the blink of a scanner.”

Meanwhile, doctors with tablets can bring information right to patients' bedsides. Patient files will be accessible from any doctor in the system they receive care from. Instructions will be given by voice, or typewritten. And Smart Pumps–not part of the EPIC system, but being implemented concurrently–digitize IV use, while safeguarding against mistakes.

“If we were giving a medication, the Smart Pump has a drug list with drug information in it," explained nurse Nicholas Jentz. “But let’s say I hit a wrong button or am about to give an unsafe dose. It has limits set to make sure we’re giving the proper doses.”

It's a big investment in improving patient care–both due to the $80 million price tag, and the fact that every employee interacting with the system has to be trained on it, starting with the 7,000 employees at OMHC.

Nurse Erica Ellul said that the training was "very intense," but worthwhile.

"Everything’s in one location … but it also increases security, too," she said. "So as a nurse, I can only access a certain amount of things."

The implementation of the system was spurred on by federal requirements urging all health facilities to go digital–with some hefty funding incentives.

Oakwood could potentially capture about $30 million by meeting federal use requirements for digitizing patient care, Zimmie said.

Not to mention the benefits for doctors and patients.

“The beauty from a physician’s perspective is to be able to see everything that happens to my patient wherever they go, all in one area," Zimmie added. "Patients appreciate it. We appreciate it. It’s better care–safer care."