Adena announces move to new electronic medical records

Adena Health System announced today that it will be transitioning its electronic medical records (EMR) to Epic, the most widely-used and comprehensive health record system in the country. The move to a new EMR platform is one of the key outcomes of Adena’s recent expanded affiliation with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Through this partnership, Adena can serve as an Epic Community Connect Partner with Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. This extends Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s electronic medical records to respective independent partners allowing Adena to leverage the expertise and resources Ohio State Wexner Medical Center invests into optimizing its own EMR platform for the sake of patient care quality. Ohio State Wexner Medical Center will assist Adena in the installation, training and utilization of its new EMR.

“Epic is the gold standard in electronic medical records, and we are committed to meeting the unique needs of our region through improved clinical efficiency, health care administration and patient care,” said Adena President and CEO Jeff Graham. “When I came back to Adena, I heard loud and clear from our patients and community members that our billing needed to be fixed. I have also heard from our Adena providers and caregivers that our current two-system EMR is cumbersome and not ideal. That is why I am excited we will be moving to a solution that will be significantly felt by our patients and staff.”

For Adena, Epic improves care coordination by providing an integrated, single source to access and seamlessly share health information with providers, improving clinical efficiency, safety and quality, productivity and satisfaction. Enhancements to other operational areas will be significantly impacted as well where patients will benefit from improved scheduling and registration.

“We are excited to have Adena join our Epic Community Connect program and look forward to the substantial benefits patients will experience through the shared EMR,” said Phyllis Teater, chief information officer at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “Now both facilities can share patient records with their complete medical history to aid in better care, better referrals and better population health management. It helps keep patient care local whenever possible and provides our partners with more affordable access to a state-of the art EMR system.”

Patients will benefit from Epic’s intuitive one-stop patient portal for mobile, tablet and desktop applications. The robust system offers patients access to all their medical records, including lab tests, medical imaging, prescriptions, vaccinations, physician referrals, and more in one convenient location. The EMR system also leverages the medical center’s referral network and allows both organizations to share best practices for improved patient care and outcomes.

Adena’s EMR implementation will take approximately 18-24 months, with go-live in 2022.