A small critical access hospital in Oregon chose to delay the EHR implementation and have Cerner associates on-site, rather than attempt a remote, virtual go-live during COVID-19.
Lake Health District (LHD), a critical access hospital situated in Oregon, will launch Cerner EHR next week following more than a two-month delay due to COVID-19, according to the Lake County Examiner.
The hospital noted enhanced interoperability between its local health systems, such as Sky Lakes in Klamath Falls and St. Charles in Bend, as a primary reason for the Cerner implementation.
“This will make for a stronger continuity of care and a smoother patient flow,” Steven Vance, director of information and technology services at LHD, said in a statement to Lake County Examiner.
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COVID-19 pushed back the early April EHR launch date and shut down LHD to strictly emergency-related procedures. However, Vance noted LHD health IT professionals and future EHR users utilized the extra time to train on the new software and test the system across multiple workflows.
This implementation comes roughly 18 months from the initial meeting with Cerner professionals and Vance said he is looking forward to the launch.
LHD had the option of a remote EHR implementation or a delayed on-site implementation. LHD leaders chose the latter, which allows for Cerner to be on-site for the implementation.
According to LHD, Cerner will have technicians remotely and on-site to help with the EHR implementation. Those on-site will follow social distancing guidelines and only one LHD health IT professional will be allowed to meet with a Cerner specialist at a time. Additional questions can be answered through remote direct messaging.
A spokesperson from Cerner reiterated that the company is committed to following safety guidance in any health facility that chooses and on-site EHR go-live.
“At Cerner, we understand that as a health care technology company, it’s our role to support health systems at the frontlines of fighting the global pandemic, COVID-19. We owe it to them, their patients and the communities they serve.
We work closely with clients on a case-by-case basis to determine their critical needs and what we can do virtually or on-site, as requested, to support them. We make sure only critical associates are on-site, and we carefully consider how to safely support the implementation. We monitor the changing nature of the pandemic and associated protocols at the federal, state and local levels. Masks are required at all times for Cerner associates as well as proper hand hygiene and social distancing. Depending on client protocols, associates may be tested for COVID-19 prior to arriving to client sites and are screened daily for illness.”
The hospital said it plans to have Cerner EHR implemented throughout the district’s health facilities to enhance interoperability.
Currently, each department in LHD has its own EHR software and interface. This poses a significant issue for health professionals to communicate with one another and it exposes a lack of internal interoperability at the hospital.
Using one integrated EHR it will allow for interoperability within the hospital and enhance communication between LHD clinicians, who previously had patients repeat their symptoms to separate clinicians within the hospital.
Along with enhanced interoperability, LHD faculty and its patients can utilize Cerner’s patient portal.
Patients will be able to direct message providers, schedule appointments, and gain full patient data access. Providers and patients will also be able to utilize telehealth capabilities through the online portal for remote therapy sessions.
As noted, Cerner offered its future clients the option to delay the EHR implementation or have it done remotely.
In late April, Macon Community Hospital, a rural 25-bed critical access hospital in Tennessee, chose the remote option.
Prior to the start of the implementation, the hospital had already been working with Cerner on testing and training for the system. The implementation process began at the beginning of the coronavirus and rather than postponing the go-live due to the pandemic, it officially launched on March 30.
While most would think a remote implementation could result in technical issues along the way, Scott Tongate, chief financial officer at Macon Community Hospital, credited the hospital’s technical team and Cerner’s roadmap for a smooth transition.
“We didn’t have Cerner’s team sitting right here, but they did a great job of providing us with a roadmap on training and testing,” Tongate said in an interview to EHRIntelligence. “We really stuck to the training and testing requirements that they laid out, so when we went live, we did not run into technical issues that we ran into in past go-lives.”
Because the implementation and subsequent go-live went off without any major issues, Tongate said the virtual implementation could become a more popular option for other hospitals in the future.
Source: EHR Intelligence