Stanford Hospital & Clinics

Stanford, CA

• Annual revenue of $1.7B 
• Staff of approximately 7,301
• 1,910 physicians
• Specializes in the treatment of rare, complex disorders in areas such as cardiac care, cancer treatment, neurology, neurosurgery, obstetrics, orthopedics, surgery and organ transplants

Challenge:
In 2005, after being well underway completing an enterprise-wide, comprehensive IT modernization project, SHC began a strategic planning process for selecting an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution. Over 300 physicians, clinicians and administrative staff participated in a 4-month evaluation process that resulted in selecting an enterprise clinical information system which would create an EMR across our continuum of care.

The major goals that came out of this study included the following:

• Improve Patient Safety – by offering standard, clear documentation and electronic orders that automatically follow the patient; and electronic prompts or alerts that help prevent errors
• Improve Clinical Productivity – Easier to find and easier to use information improves clinical productivity – and that means more efficient and faster service for patients and care delivery.
• Improve Clinical Outcomes/Demonstrate Quality – By collecting and analyzing data in a scientifically rigorous manner, SHC can use this data confidently and anonymously to make improvements in the way the Hospital operates.
• Support of SHC’s Research Mission – the ability to confidentially utilize codified electronic data to support the vast research programs in the Hospital
• Enhance Community Physician Outreach – by allowing referral physicians to have electronic access to relevant patient information for patients cared for at SHC, while also being able to collaborate more closely with physician colleagues involved in the care of their patients

Implementation Solutions:
Under the technical guidance of the IT department, physicians and staff were able to look under the hood and take a hard close look not only at the proposed vendors but at the entire process of what this transformation would mean and how it could be implemented safely, efficiently, and as seamlessly as possible. The decision to choose Epic Systems culminated in months of intense scrutiny and analysis of three competing vendors. With Epic as our chosen technology partner,  the implementation was rolled out into three major ‘go live’ completion phases:

• Silver Release – go live April 25, 2008….all inpatient including OR, ER, ICU and two primary care clinics
• Gold Release go-live October, 2009….staged roll-out of 30 multi-specialty clinics on campus and off campus
• Platinum Release go-live September 1, 2009….all patient access and revenue cycle for hospital and physician billing

EMR SOLUTION: EPIC

Recognizing the ROI of EMR Implementation
Information access:
Having achieved Stage 7, physician notes and other clinical data are accessible electronically -  anywhere, anytime, regardless of the care setting.

Patient Documentation:
Physicians are increasingly finding a complete medical record available for them to view every time a patient is seen, whether in the clinics or in an inpatient setting.  This has profound significance because it gives physicians and all caregivers the information they need to make the best decisions for the patient independently and in collaboration with the entire SHC healthcare team.  Further, as the EMR for each patient is populated by the various providers over time, documentation becomes faster and easier during each subsequent encounter.

Cost-efficient resource allocation:

SHC is now able to do analysis for allocating resources of all kinds in ways that will improve efficiency, and thus offer better care and service.

Lessons Learned:

Set realistic goals
Ensure sure that changes were never ahead of the ability of doctors, nurses and other staff to use it safely, effectively and conveniently.

It’s all about the patient
Get all stakeholders on the same page! Staff across an incredibly diverse palette of specialties understood that information capture and use is really all about documenting the patient’s clinical experience.

Site visits for insight
Develop a multidisciplinary task group to study peer-to-peer best practices.  The Stanford team traveled to similar healthcare organizations to gain best practices and vendor suggestions.

 

If you are a healthcare provider and would like more information on how to obtain your hospital’s EMR score, e-mail us or call us at 866-546-2900.