Bon Secours to turn on electronic system
Published 8:08 pm Wednesday, August 1, 2012
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At Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, gastroenterologist Mark Lawson demonstrates the integrated clinical information system that will go live Sunday.
Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View is counting down to going paperless, with a new electronic integrated clinical information system to go live on Sunday.
ConnectCare will give health care providers access to patient medical information via a single electronic health record.
“We will be able to really get a good look at the patient before they come (and) we can get to them (the records) 24/7,” health center Endoscopy Manager Nancy Schlossberg said.
“The nurses are mostly excited, because it’s going to streamline the care and take away the need to write everything down.”
According to a press release, Bon Secours Health System Inc., parent company of Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System, has spent more than $200 million on the new system, which will also go live at Maryview in Portsmouth.
A transition team has installed and updated 300 desktop computers and monitors, 432 laptops, 300 nursing carts, 293 privacy screens, 227 bar code readers and nearly 10 miles of cable.
Bon Secours Hampton Roads spokeswoman Lynne Zultanky said several offsite locations will also go live with the system.
Rather than just flipping a switch, the changeover will occur between 10 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday, she said.
The final step is to “shut the door” on the system’s nerve center “and make sure it’s secure so anyone can’t get into the electronic medical records without leaving an electronic trail.”
The system will link all patient medical data, including history, allergies, test results and medications, giving care teams access to treatment plans and safety alerts, the press release stated.
Television screens will provide information for family members, Zultanky said, with patients assigned numbers to protect privacy.
“We’re very excited that their families will know where they are in the process,” Schlossberg added.
Patients will have their own online portal, MyChart, providing test results, medical history, prescribed medications and other information.
“I have been a patient before, and you really do want to know what’s going on,” Schlossberg added.
Gastroenterologist Mark Lawson said that prior to ConnectCare, “the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing. X-Rays were reordered; tests were reordered.
“It’s going to provide the free-flow of information, and the information can be accessed from any site” including with iPads and smart phones.
“We’re ready to go — the training has been excellent,” Schlossberg said.