KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Together with Cerner Corp., the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) St. Margaret has experienced significant outcomes for its patients, more than 250 active medical staff and 1,500 clinicians.
The hospital equipped all private patient rooms with a computer, enabling clinicians to electronically update medical records at the bedside while also increasing accuracy of order completion and reducing the need for clarification callbacks. In addition, it has achieved more than 90 percent physician adoption of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), dramatically shortened medication turnaround time in the pharmacy by reducing lost orders and eliminated the need to re-key orders into separate systems. The hospital also has increased billing accuracy via electronic documentation.
The organization is at the forefront of implementing eRecord, a UPMC initiative that gives doctors, nurses and other caregivers the ability to instantly access patient information.
"The Cerner CPOE functionality brought many improvements to medication safety and the efficiency of the medication use process," said Ron O'Neil, PharmD, director of pharmacy at UPMC. "CPOE eliminates all the issues related to pharmacists' interpretation of a physician's handwritten prescription, as the pharmacist can readily read the name of the medication, dose, route and frequency. Additionally, there have been substantial improvements in the turnaround time of medication orders, as the medication order is instantaneously visible on the electronic medication administration record for nurse notification."
"I found giving the patient five minutes of my time in the morning reviewing tests and procedures that are going to be happening during their day really makes them feel more at ease for the rest of the day," said Lynne Quigley, RN, staff nurse of the Innovation Unit at UPMC. "I also noticed my patients are more content because I answer their questions in the room while I am charting."
"As soon as we turned on the system, physicians started using CPOE to input orders. One physician came to me that first day and said he had just finished his 50th order. Other physicians were eagerly asking me functionality questions. Thanks to our great chemistry and enthusiastic physicians, we had 80 percent of our physicians using CPOE within a few days, two weeks ahead of schedule," said Dr. Joel Diamond, chairman and physician advisory committee at UPMC.
UPMC St. Margaret is a 250-bed acute care and teaching hospital situated on a 21-acre campus in Pittsburgh. The hospital begins its second century of service and renewed dedication to more than 250,000 residents of northeastern Allegheny County and the Alle-Kiski valley, providing residents convenient access to the area's finest physicians and health services.
"Cerner CPOE enables process modifications such as unifying the team and placing clinical decision-making support at the point of service, which allows organizations to provide evidence-based care. By leveraging Cerner's proven CPOE methodology, community hospitals like UPMC are better positioned to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients and elevate organizational efficiency," said Trace Devanny, president of Cerner.
UPMC St. Margaret will exhibit CPOE, medication administration and nursing solutions on Feb. 15 at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference being held at the San Diego Convention Center, Feb. 12-16 in booth 2813.
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