Emergency Department Goes Live with Meditech
Methodist Hospital Emergency Department (ED) made history on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by going live with its Meditech Nursing Documentation Module. This addition to the Methodist Hospital Electronic Medical Record family allows all nursing documentation to be completed at the bedside electronically. The ED Build Team has worked diligently for eighteen months defining and building the Emergency Department module. This is another giant step in Methodist Hospitals journey to becoming completely paperless by 2014 in compliance with Federal mandates and supports the hospitals implementation in December, 2009 of the Patient Care System (PCS) for all inpatient nursing care.
The ED module includes an electronic interaction with the Methodist Pharmacy Department. The Build Team displays a tremendous amount of pride when they relate that their ED is the only Emergency Department in the world to use this Meditech feature. Interaction with the Pharmacy allows the ED Physicians to prescribe medications directly which increases the speed of treatment for the patient. The interaction gives access to historical data such as patient drug allergies and checks for any drug interactions which could present serious health problems for the patient. These interactions and allergies are flagged by the electronic system and allow the physician immediate access to the information.
The ED Build Team is comprised of members of the ED staff who volunteered to be part of this important task. They are:
Belinda Burnett, RN
Elizabeth Chaney, ED Registration Coordinator
Shirley H. Clark, RN
Sandi Ervin, ERA
G.W. Thomas, RN, CEN, Clinical Coordinator
Jo Rae Young, RN, CEN, Assistant Director
In addition to the Build Team, the ED Super Users have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the ED module. The Super Users are:
Shannon Onstott
Renae Book
Jamie Simpson
Andy Funk
Becky Hartmire
Gary Gillam
Kristi Gross
Jon Schermerhorn
Ashley Wolfe
Members of this Team provided 24 hour/day coverage for 5 days to the ED staff during the initial implementation of the module. Prior to the go live the Build Team provided detailed training for all ED staff members on the module to help make the transition as seamless and effortless as possible. This training included use of the five Workstations On Wheels (WOWs) and two Tablets that will be utilized in the ED at the patients beside for all nursing documentation.
Additionally, the ED staff will now have access to up-to-minute status reports on each patient via the Public Tracker system. This is two big screen monitors that are mounted in each nursing station and display the latest updates on patient care. These monitors will enable a nurse to know at a glance when a patients lab work or x-rays have been completed and will significantly speed up patient care, treatment, and disposition.
Historical data will be stored on all patients for future reference. Any patient who has been an inpatient at Methodist Hospital since the December, 2009, implementation of PCS, will already have data available to in the system for quick ED access.
With the implementation of PCS in December, the Build Team is quick to point out their work is not over. Now the Team will begin building the physician component to the system called PDOC. This will require at least three months to build and design but will allow the physicians to also document everything electronically the bedside.
Methodist Hospital Emergency Department (ED) made history on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by going live with its Meditech Nursing Documentation Module. This addition to the Methodist Hospital Electronic Medical Record family allows all nursing documentation to be completed at the bedside electronically. The ED Build Team has worked diligently for eighteen months defining and building the Emergency Department module. This is another giant step in Methodist Hospitals journey to becoming completely paperless by 2014 in compliance with Federal mandates and supports the hospitals implementation in December, 2009 of the Patient Care System (PCS) for all inpatient nursing care.
The ED module includes an electronic interaction with the Methodist Pharmacy Department. The Build Team displays a tremendous amount of pride when they relate that their ED is the only Emergency Department in the world to use this Meditech feature. Interaction with the Pharmacy allows the ED Physicians to prescribe medications directly which increases the speed of treatment for the patient. The interaction gives access to historical data such as patient drug allergies and checks for any drug interactions which could present serious health problems for the patient. These interactions and allergies are flagged by the electronic system and allow the physician immediate access to the information.
The ED Build Team is comprised of members of the ED staff who volunteered to be part of this important task. They are:
Belinda Burnett, RN
Elizabeth Chaney, ED Registration Coordinator
Shirley H. Clark, RN
Sandi Ervin, ERA
G.W. Thomas, RN, CEN, Clinical Coordinator
Jo Rae Young, RN, CEN, Assistant Director
In addition to the Build Team, the ED Super Users have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the ED module. The Super Users are:
Shannon Onstott
Renae Book
Jamie Simpson
Andy Funk
Becky Hartmire
Gary Gillam
Kristi Gross
Jon Schermerhorn
Ashley Wolfe
Members of this Team provided 24 hour/day coverage for 5 days to the ED staff during the initial implementation of the module. Prior to the go live the Build Team provided detailed training for all ED staff members on the module to help make the transition as seamless and effortless as possible. This training included use of the five Workstations On Wheels (WOWs) and two Tablets that will be utilized in the ED at the patients beside for all nursing documentation.
Additionally, the ED staff will now have access to up-to-minute status reports on each patient via the Public Tracker system. This is two big screen monitors that are mounted in each nursing station and display the latest updates on patient care. These monitors will enable a nurse to know at a glance when a patients lab work or x-rays have been completed and will significantly speed up patient care, treatment, and disposition.
Historical data will be stored on all patients for future reference. Any patient who has been an inpatient at Methodist Hospital since the December, 2009, implementation of PCS, will already have data available to in the system for quick ED access.
With the implementation of PCS in December, the Build Team is quick to point out their work is not over. Now the Team will begin building the physician component to the system called PDOC. This will require at least three months to build and design but will allow the physicians to also document everything electronically the bedside.
