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The development of Partners eCare-the new enterprise-wide electronic health record system-remains on track, thanks to the efforts of thousands of Partners clinicians and administrators, including more than 700 subject matter experts (SMEs) from BWHC.
The program, one of the most inclusive clinical and administrative initiatives in Partners history, recently achieved two major milestones. The first was a live demonstration of Epic software (focused on applications that will go live at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in the next calendar year) for an audience of leaders and staff. The second milestone is movement into the next major phase of the program: building clinical content into the tools physicians use.
"We could not have achieved these milestones without the hard work and diligence of thousands of our Partners colleagues," said O'Neil Britton, MD, chief health information officer for Partners HealthCare and executive director of Partners eCare. "Thanks to their collective efforts, Partners eCare will empower patients to manage their health outcomes, connect us in ways that will improve the coordination of care and create an improved platform to support scientific discovery and our educational mission."
From Scheduling to Billing: Revenue Cycle Gets Audience
Since last fall, the Partners eCare revenue cycle team has been processing feedback from Enterprise Validation Sessions and various councils to design, build and configure applications that support everything from registration and scheduling to coding and billing. The team hosted the first live demonstration of these functions supported by Epic applications, and the results were encouraging.
"We're very happy to see that after years of hard work, the system is coming together," said Margo Daphnis, director for Partners eCare at BWHC, noting that the demonstration made clear how much more efficient registration and billing processes will become.
NWH and MGH will be first to roll out the Partners eCare revenue cycle system in 2014, followed by clinical system implementations in 2016. BWHC will be the first to combine both the revenue cycle and clinical systems into one roll-out in the spring of 2015, followed by other Partners institutions across the network incrementally through 2017.
Clinicians Play Vital Role in Shaping Electronic Health Record
Thousands of nurses, physicians and administrative professionals from hospitals, primary care practices and rehabilitation centers have already left their mark on the electronic health record now under development. The workflow-focused Enterprise Validation Sessions came to an end in June, and clinical representatives from Partners institutions are building clinical content into the tools caregivers use to provide and document care.
Over the next several months, representatives from Partners institutions and practices will continue to participate in Clinical Content Committees to determine the flow sheets, order sets, plans of care and other clinical content to be built into the system. To ensure the clinical portion of the system is specific to Partners' needs, they draw heavily on the clinical workflow feedback shared during the sessions.
Once complete, a single, integrated system will replace the majority of existing clinical and administrative systems at BWHC. The goal is "one patient, one record, one team, one Partners statement," enabling a seamless flow of clinical and administrative information about a patient anywhere within the Partners system.
For more information, visit the Partners eCare website at partnersecare.partners.org, and sign-up to receive important news and updates.