On June 2, St. Louis Children’s Hospital will launch Epic, a leading electronic health records (EHR) system, in which all of a patient's information appear on a single electronic medical record and the patient can access that record securely online. EpicCare Link is Epic’s web-based application for connecting BJC/St. Louis Children’s Hospital patient information with community physicians and care givers. It provides community users secure access to select patient information in Epic.
Dr. Lozovatsky is the physician champion for the Epic transition, and will explain how referring physicians can securely access patient information while in our care.
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EpicCare Link: Connecting Physicians to Patient Information in One EHR
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about Margaret Lozovatsky, MD
Margaret Lozovatsky, MD
Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky is a pediatrician in Saint Louis, Missouri and is affiliated with St. Louis Children's Hospital-Washington University. She received her medical degree from University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and has been in practice between 11-20 years. She is one of 195 doctors at St. Louis Children's Hospital-Washington University who specialize in Pediatrics.Learn more about Margaret Lozovatsky, MD
Transcription:
Melanie Cole (Host): Our topic today is EpicCare Link, connecting physicians to patient information in one electronic health record. My guest is Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky. She's the Chief Medical Information Officer at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Dr. Lozovatsky, what is Epic, and why are you implementing this system at St. Louis Children's Hospital?
Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky, MD (Guest): So Epic is an electronic health record. It is widely used by many organizations across the country. We have decided as a system at BJC to implement one record across the entire enterprise. The main reason to implement this autonomic medical record is because we've had many, many standalone applications across the organization and it's made it very difficult for our providers to be able to see patient information as patients move across the system.
So we are implementing one record where they'll be able to see all the patient information as the patients move from one hospital to the other, from one ward to the other. It will be a wonderful change for our institution.
Melanie: When is it going to go live?
Dr. Lozovatsky: We are going live at the academic center on June 2nd. That will include St. Louis Children's Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Barnes-Jewish West, and our faculty practice plan. We are already live in all of our community hospitals and the BJC Medical Group.
Melanie: So when can the medical staff and referring physicians, what can they expect during and after you go live, and what about physicians at smaller practices? How are they involved?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So during the go live, like I said it's going to be on Saturday, June 2nd, we of course expect that there will be some changes to physician workflows. We have worked very hard to make sure that everyone has received their training, they've done their personalization lab, so they should be well-prepared for the changes that are about to occur. We are going to have help available for the first two to three weeks after go live. There will be people around the hospital and they will also be at some of the practices. What physicians should look out for are the gray shirts. Those are specifically trained to help providers, and they are most familiar with the physician workflows.
In terms of the physicians at small practices, there will be lots of help available through the help desk. They can call Children's Direct, and I am always available if there are questions that come up, and happy to visit the clinics to help troubleshoot the issues that they're having.
Melanie: So then what is EpicCare Link?
Dr. Lozovatsky: EpicCare Link is a web-based application that is going to be used by our referring providers so that they can see the charts for their patients as their patients get treatment across the BJC system.
Melanie: So many referring physicians, who can use it?
Dr. Lozovatsky: Anyone that has patients in our system can request access, and anyone in their clinic can use EpicCare, like so physicians as well as their staff.
Melanie: And how can they gain access?
Dr. Lozovatsky: They don't need any training to use EpicCare Link. There's a tip sheet that's available that goes through all of the functionality.
Melanie: And to that point, listeners can download a copy of the tip sheet by clicking on the title of this segment at StLouisChildrens.org/RadioRounds. That's StLouisChildrens.org/RadioRounds. And Doctor speak about the functionality, and what it can be used for, Doctor. Do you feel in your opinion that this is going to make a much more cohesive electronic health record? It's going to make it so that everybody's on the same page, and a lot less confusing?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So the answer to that is a resounding yes, I certainly feel that this will make it much, much easier for our providers to get information on their patients, mainly because we're going to have just one record as opposed to having a different record in the ER, in the OR, on the wards, like we've had in the past.
EpicCare Link is going to be an additional layer which is going to allow physicians to get information on their patients at their fingertips. So what it allows providers to do is to see all the information on their patients. So they can actually open the chart, they can look and see anything that happened as they receive care in the BJC Healthcare System. So whether they've had surgery, whether they've been seen in the ER, they've been admitted, they've been seen in any of our clinics, all of that information will be there.
Additionally, it allows providers to put in orders for certain labs and radiology tests that they can get within our system, and they can also put in referrals for specialists within the BJC System.
Melanie: So if we're speaking a little bit about margin of error, where do you see that that would come in? Is information such as surgery and these things, is it being manually input? Is it being scanned? And is there a little bit of a curve for the fact that maybe somebody on administration staff or somebody puts in something wrong?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So there's certainly always an opportunity for error, but because we now will have an enterprise electronic medical record, everything will be put into the system as things happen. So for the example that you used with the surgery, the notes will be written by our providers within the system so there will be minimal scanning as opposed to previous experiences with multiple EHRs where there was a lot of scanning from one system to another. There will be no need for that anymore because you will be able to see information in the same system as things happen across the enterprise.
Melanie: So if this works harmoniously with the workflows in a physician's office and through the hospital, what about patient portals? Are they going to be connected in any way to this?
Dr. Lozovatsky: Yes, yes they are. So Epic has a patient portal called MyChart. MyChart can be accessed online or it can be accessed on smartphones via an application. It will allow the patients to see things like their appointments, they'll get their after visit summaries which will have information about their visit, and they'll have an opportunity to sign up for the patient portal in their clinic and while they're inpatient in the hospital.
Melanie: What else do you think physicians would want to know about Epic and EpicCare Link?
Dr. Lozovatsky: I think that the main concern that people have coming from the old system is the ability to get easy access to their information. So the message that I want everyone to hear is that our transition to Epic should help solve many of the issues that happened in the past. That physicians will be able to view their patient's information in a much, much easier fashion.
The other thing that I think is important to communicate about EpicCare Link is that in order to see a patient's chart, the physician has to be listed as a provider for that patient. So if for whatever reason our referring providers are not seeing their patient information, they just need to let the Care team know that they need to update the PCP in the chart.
Melanie: And about privacy and security for a minute, are there certain laws that protect patient's health information? As you say, only a provider that that patient is seeing can see their charts, but what privacy and security have you got in place?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So there's certainly safeguards put in place. We have monitoring of all charts that are open, so providers and other healthcare team members should only be viewing charts of patients that they're seeing, and this will be monitored across institutions.
Melanie: If a physician has a question, Doctor, who should they contact?
Dr. Lozovatsky: If they have any questions, they can call Children’s Direct, and they will direct them to the right venue. So during the go live, they'll be able to direct them to the Epic Help Desk.
Melanie: Wrap it up for us, Doctor, in summary. Tell other physicians what you'd like them to know about EpicCare Link, connecting physicians to patient information in one electronic health record.
Dr. Lozovatsky: So what I'd like physicians to know is that EpicCare Link is a very easy to use web-based application that they will be able to easily open up in their clinics. They don't need to be on site to log in, and they will be able to access charts for their patients. They'll be able to order labs or radiology, they'll be able to place referrals to any of our providers, and if they have any questions we're always available here at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and we're happy to answer them.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today, Doctor, on that fascinating topic. A physician can refer a patient by calling Children's Direct Physician Access Line at 1(800) 678-HELP. That's 1(800) 678-4357. You're listening to Radio Rounds with St. Louis Children's Hospital. For more information on resources available at St. Louis Children's Hospital, you can go to www.StLouisChildrens.org. That's www.StLouisChildrens.org. This is Melanie Cole, thanks so much for listening.
Melanie Cole (Host): Our topic today is EpicCare Link, connecting physicians to patient information in one electronic health record. My guest is Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky. She's the Chief Medical Information Officer at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Dr. Lozovatsky, what is Epic, and why are you implementing this system at St. Louis Children's Hospital?
Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky, MD (Guest): So Epic is an electronic health record. It is widely used by many organizations across the country. We have decided as a system at BJC to implement one record across the entire enterprise. The main reason to implement this autonomic medical record is because we've had many, many standalone applications across the organization and it's made it very difficult for our providers to be able to see patient information as patients move across the system.
So we are implementing one record where they'll be able to see all the patient information as the patients move from one hospital to the other, from one ward to the other. It will be a wonderful change for our institution.
Melanie: When is it going to go live?
Dr. Lozovatsky: We are going live at the academic center on June 2nd. That will include St. Louis Children's Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Barnes-Jewish West, and our faculty practice plan. We are already live in all of our community hospitals and the BJC Medical Group.
Melanie: So when can the medical staff and referring physicians, what can they expect during and after you go live, and what about physicians at smaller practices? How are they involved?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So during the go live, like I said it's going to be on Saturday, June 2nd, we of course expect that there will be some changes to physician workflows. We have worked very hard to make sure that everyone has received their training, they've done their personalization lab, so they should be well-prepared for the changes that are about to occur. We are going to have help available for the first two to three weeks after go live. There will be people around the hospital and they will also be at some of the practices. What physicians should look out for are the gray shirts. Those are specifically trained to help providers, and they are most familiar with the physician workflows.
In terms of the physicians at small practices, there will be lots of help available through the help desk. They can call Children's Direct, and I am always available if there are questions that come up, and happy to visit the clinics to help troubleshoot the issues that they're having.
Melanie: So then what is EpicCare Link?
Dr. Lozovatsky: EpicCare Link is a web-based application that is going to be used by our referring providers so that they can see the charts for their patients as their patients get treatment across the BJC system.
Melanie: So many referring physicians, who can use it?
Dr. Lozovatsky: Anyone that has patients in our system can request access, and anyone in their clinic can use EpicCare, like so physicians as well as their staff.
Melanie: And how can they gain access?
Dr. Lozovatsky: They don't need any training to use EpicCare Link. There's a tip sheet that's available that goes through all of the functionality.
Melanie: And to that point, listeners can download a copy of the tip sheet by clicking on the title of this segment at StLouisChildrens.org/RadioRounds. That's StLouisChildrens.org/RadioRounds. And Doctor speak about the functionality, and what it can be used for, Doctor. Do you feel in your opinion that this is going to make a much more cohesive electronic health record? It's going to make it so that everybody's on the same page, and a lot less confusing?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So the answer to that is a resounding yes, I certainly feel that this will make it much, much easier for our providers to get information on their patients, mainly because we're going to have just one record as opposed to having a different record in the ER, in the OR, on the wards, like we've had in the past.
EpicCare Link is going to be an additional layer which is going to allow physicians to get information on their patients at their fingertips. So what it allows providers to do is to see all the information on their patients. So they can actually open the chart, they can look and see anything that happened as they receive care in the BJC Healthcare System. So whether they've had surgery, whether they've been seen in the ER, they've been admitted, they've been seen in any of our clinics, all of that information will be there.
Additionally, it allows providers to put in orders for certain labs and radiology tests that they can get within our system, and they can also put in referrals for specialists within the BJC System.
Melanie: So if we're speaking a little bit about margin of error, where do you see that that would come in? Is information such as surgery and these things, is it being manually input? Is it being scanned? And is there a little bit of a curve for the fact that maybe somebody on administration staff or somebody puts in something wrong?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So there's certainly always an opportunity for error, but because we now will have an enterprise electronic medical record, everything will be put into the system as things happen. So for the example that you used with the surgery, the notes will be written by our providers within the system so there will be minimal scanning as opposed to previous experiences with multiple EHRs where there was a lot of scanning from one system to another. There will be no need for that anymore because you will be able to see information in the same system as things happen across the enterprise.
Melanie: So if this works harmoniously with the workflows in a physician's office and through the hospital, what about patient portals? Are they going to be connected in any way to this?
Dr. Lozovatsky: Yes, yes they are. So Epic has a patient portal called MyChart. MyChart can be accessed online or it can be accessed on smartphones via an application. It will allow the patients to see things like their appointments, they'll get their after visit summaries which will have information about their visit, and they'll have an opportunity to sign up for the patient portal in their clinic and while they're inpatient in the hospital.
Melanie: What else do you think physicians would want to know about Epic and EpicCare Link?
Dr. Lozovatsky: I think that the main concern that people have coming from the old system is the ability to get easy access to their information. So the message that I want everyone to hear is that our transition to Epic should help solve many of the issues that happened in the past. That physicians will be able to view their patient's information in a much, much easier fashion.
The other thing that I think is important to communicate about EpicCare Link is that in order to see a patient's chart, the physician has to be listed as a provider for that patient. So if for whatever reason our referring providers are not seeing their patient information, they just need to let the Care team know that they need to update the PCP in the chart.
Melanie: And about privacy and security for a minute, are there certain laws that protect patient's health information? As you say, only a provider that that patient is seeing can see their charts, but what privacy and security have you got in place?
Dr. Lozovatsky: So there's certainly safeguards put in place. We have monitoring of all charts that are open, so providers and other healthcare team members should only be viewing charts of patients that they're seeing, and this will be monitored across institutions.
Melanie: If a physician has a question, Doctor, who should they contact?
Dr. Lozovatsky: If they have any questions, they can call Children’s Direct, and they will direct them to the right venue. So during the go live, they'll be able to direct them to the Epic Help Desk.
Melanie: Wrap it up for us, Doctor, in summary. Tell other physicians what you'd like them to know about EpicCare Link, connecting physicians to patient information in one electronic health record.
Dr. Lozovatsky: So what I'd like physicians to know is that EpicCare Link is a very easy to use web-based application that they will be able to easily open up in their clinics. They don't need to be on site to log in, and they will be able to access charts for their patients. They'll be able to order labs or radiology, they'll be able to place referrals to any of our providers, and if they have any questions we're always available here at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and we're happy to answer them.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today, Doctor, on that fascinating topic. A physician can refer a patient by calling Children's Direct Physician Access Line at 1(800) 678-HELP. That's 1(800) 678-4357. You're listening to Radio Rounds with St. Louis Children's Hospital. For more information on resources available at St. Louis Children's Hospital, you can go to www.StLouisChildrens.org. That's www.StLouisChildrens.org. This is Melanie Cole, thanks so much for listening.