Pre-Op Center Streamlines Processes to Improve Patient Experiences
Last summer, Angela Bader, MD, of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, succeeded in gaining more wide spread access for physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners in the Pre-Op clinic access to Epic, a Web-based service used by Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates to access patients’ electronic medical records online.
Although a significant percentage of patients referred for surgery are from Harvard Vanguard, providers in the BWH preop clinic did not have easy access to all of their existing medical information on Epic from the BWH clinic. “It wasn’t adequate,” Bader said.
Bader worked with Richard Lopez, administrator at Harvard Vanguard, to show Harvard Vanguard that it was important for all providers to be able to access patient information for Harvard Vanguard patients having surgery at BWH. “Patients had to wait if we didn’t have access to their medical record,” Bader said. “We would have to wait for a person who had access to open the record.”
In addition to receiving access for all providers who want it, Bader and Harvard Vanguard also came up with another solution to ensure patients have an easier time in Pre-Op. Harvard Vanguard provided them with a nurse liaison, formerly Pam D’Arcy, who worked with the clinic to help patients with preoperative issues schedule additional testing at Harvard Vanguard if needed. D’Arcy now works at Faulkner Hospital in the same position to improve the hospital’s processes with Harvard Vanguard.
“Now, there’s a huge difference in how patients come from Harvard Vanguard and have surgery,” Bader said. “It’s a more streamlined process with fewer roadblocks. We expect Faulkner will have the same success we’ve had.”
The clinic is conducting surveys to determine patient satisfaction with the new system and will have results mid-April. “Patients have always been satisfied with our clinicians, but not with the systems and paperwork. We hope the survey results reflect increased patient satisfaction,” Bader said.