Now that Baptist OneCare is live in Baptist Minor Medical Centers and most Baptist Medical Group practices, what features of this new system can Baptist clinicians look forward to using?
There are two features that have the potential to transform the way clinicians work and improve their daily practice—reporting and the clinical practice model. CPM content integrates evidence-based content into documentation, removes variation in practice and promotes consistent and safe care. This information will be embedded in Baptist’s new electronic health record system, making it easier for clinicians to access this information as they care for patients.
“They can click a link that’s embedded in the electronic medical record and it will open the clinical practice guidelines associated with the care plan that has been selected for the patient,” said Shelia Fleming, director of clinical practice model.
Information that clinicians might typically need to research will be available in these guidelines, such as potential problems, interventions, pathophysiology or the cause of a disease or condition. The guidelines also will include patient education and available resources.
“These guidelines will help staff with assessment for and prevention of problems associated with the patient’s diagnosis,” said Fleming. “So staff is really going to have access to the information that they need every day as they provide care to their patients. It’ll be there by simply clicking a link to open that clinical practice guideline.”
Similarly, clinicians will have access to reports that can help them enhance the care they provide. While some clinicians may have had access to reports previously, the Epic reporting system will offer more advanced reporting capabilities.
“The reports we’ll generate will give you so much more information,” said Vernita Thornton, director of Epic reporting.
These reports can provide information that will help clinical staff members monitor patient conditions, better manage caseloads or identify potential issues or trends among patient populations.
“The trending reports will help you see opportunities to improve in many areas and provide information to support various initiatives,” said Thornton. “You’ll also be able to see information where patients may receive benefit from participating in a study for example [or] where they can receive assistance. You’ll be able to run reports to identify patients with a certain condition and if you are aware of opportunities to benefit those patients that you’ve identified, you can easily through the system communicate with them.”
Initially, near real-time reports will be available. But as more information is collected, analytical and trending reports can be provided. This information will help clinical and corporate colleagues involved in patient care work more efficiently.
“This is a change that impacts everything,” said Thornton. “This software impacts not only the way that we document in the records, but it impacts the entire flow of patient care from admissions all the way to discharge all the way through billing.”