The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has moved over to an electronic health records system, a massive overhaul aimed at making the ninth-largest health system in Houston more efficient. The system went live March 4.
The EHR is a comprehensive review of a patient’s medical profile at M.D. Anderson, which eliminates the need for duplicate tests, imaging and other items, according to M.D. Anderson. Studies show that EHRs help improve the quality of care and reduce cost for the system.
The system already had electronic medical records in place, or a digital form of a patient’s record, but the EHR is a complete map of the patient’s medical history, according to an internal M.D. Anderson newsletter.
M.D. Anderson’s technology partner is Verona, Wisconsin-based Epic Systems Corp. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. However, when the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic announced its electronic health records deal with Epic, it said its total electronic health records investment would exceed $1 billion over a five-year timeframe.
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The cancer-center began the process in December 2012, and approved Epic as its vendor in November 2013.
M.D. Anderson had 27,761 admissions in 2014 and was the fourth-busiest health care system in Houston. It has more than 18,000 employees in the Houston area.
Date: March 7, 2016