SRMC Gets Epic Upgrade New Software Will Provide More Efficient Integration of Records and Patient Information

SIDNEY--On December 14 and 15, a team of software experts, installation specialists and representatives from UCHealth came to Sidney to install and integrate Epic Systems Software to upgrade patient information and healthcare data for the hospital system's patients and employees. According to Epic Systems, their software "makes it possible for every patient to have a single, comprehensive medical record that informs and is informed by their health experiences. The goal is higher-quality, more personalized care that's simpler for patients, medical professionals, and everyone who makes healthcare happen." Epic says that over 305 million patients currently have electronic records in their system.

The team of Epic employees came from Verona, Wisconsin and worked on SRMC's systems, including the Long Term Care Center on Keller Drive. On Friday, the team was loading the software and showing the employees how it all works, making sure everything was operational before they returned to Wisconsin.

Caleb Myer, from Epic Systems, said "the biggest benefit of our software is it makes all of the systems integrated. The ability to access and integrate all medical records, including those from third-party providers, onto one seamless platform is a major benefit that saves time, effort and reduces errors with patient's histories and other critical information." He noted that Epic Systems was started in 1979 with a handful of people with a vision, and their original products that focused on medical billing, now integrate all forms of patient information on one seamless platform. "There is a learning curve on using the system, because there is a lot of information to access and track, but we've made it as intuitive as possible as to keep the amount of information involved from becoming overwhelming," said Myer. Josie Nielson, of UC Health in Colorado is an Epic ClinDoc Systems Analyst Associate that was in Sidney to help with the project, said "The Epic system upgrade process started some time ago, with people coming out to give training on the systems, with tip sheets and videos and practice environments made available for users to become familiar with the system, and now the team was is doing a "check-in" to see where they're having any issues, what could be better with the build (of the system) and to make the work flow easier for the users."

Nova Yang of Epic said, "We have a Learning Center where not only employees can train on our systems but customers can come in too for training and to better understand the system." He noted that the system is international, and accesses medical and patient information worldwide. Differences in systems for international patients can be challenging, but Epic helps to make the process as seamless as possible, regardless of language or cultural differences.

The team members were slated to finish this phase of their work and return to Wisconsin and Colorado Friday evening. SRMC has a number of new projects and additions that will better serve the Cheyenne county community, and the Sun-Telegraph will be focusing on all of these beneficial new services in our upcoming editions.