After 18 months of planning, installing, building and training (and yes, even a little bit of worrying), St. Luke’s Hospital is now up and running with our new electronic Health Information System (HIS).
Without doubt, we appreciate our patients’ patience as our staff and physicians work to perfect their computer skills using a completely new software program! So far, so good with only a little disruption in daily operations.
On Monday, June 18, St. Luke’s Hospital transitioned to the new McKesson Paragon health information system after 80-plus years of writing, deciphering and transcribing physician orders, test results, medications and diet orders. It’s no wonder that a computerized system is expected to improve patient safety by allowing physicians and hospitals to share test results, health history and medication lists.
With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, electronic medical records have been a major focus for many healthcare providers. Federal guidelines set deadlines for transitioning from paper charts to electronic charts. We have to demonstrate “meaningful use” if we expect to receive any reimbursement for our significant investment in time and dollars necessary for this tremendous undertaking.