NCH using technology to make healthcare more efficient and accessible
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (June 8, 2015) - Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) is making it easier for patients to access their personal health information and become more active partners in their healthcare.
NCH has implemented Epic, an electronic universal health record that stores patient data in one secure database and enables NCH caregivers to access patients' records at any time from any location. The electronic health record (EHR) creates more efficient and coordinated care, and is quickly becoming the standard in the healthcare industry.
"Epic is all about one chart in one system," NCH CEO Steve Scogna says. "Implementing Epic helps improve communication between clinicians, allows patient data to be readily available across all units and saves time for clinicians who no longer chase down patient charts."
Now that Epic is fully implemented at NCH, patients can better manage their health through NCH MyChart, an Epic interactive patient portal that allows patients secure 24/7 access to schedule or request appointments with select physicians, view test results, request prescription refills, keep track of medications and immunizations and communicate securely with their NCH healthcare providers online.
The 18-month project kicked off at NCH in late 2013. Epic spans more than 530 clinical workflows across the entire system of care, including the hospital, more than 20 physician offices, four Immediate Care Centers and eight outpatient physical rehabilitation centers.
In just six weeks, more than 3,600 healthcare providers and clinical workers spent more than 44,000 hours collectively in Epic training. Before the May 1 launch of Epic, NCH converted more than 2 million patient encounters from the previous system into the new Epic system.
"NCH MyChart gives patients confidential, around-the-clock access to portions of their medical records via the Internet," Scogna says. "It helps make care more convenient, safer and more effective for the patient and provider to manage because we are dealing with one single record."
By introducing MyChart, NCH is strengthening its partnership with patients. Patients can enroll in NCH MyChart at any time by using an activation code provided at a visit. Patients also can request an activation code online.
More than 3,000 NCH patients have signed up for MyChart since May 1, including a 99-year-old patient who registered on the first day. To learn more about NCH MyChart, or to enroll, visit nch.org/mychart.
Epic Systems, based in Verona, Wis., is the largest provider of electronic health records in the U.S. More than 300 hospitals and healthcare organizations use Epic for EHRs - the digital version of a patient's paper chart. Epic securely exchanged more than 6.3 million patient records in late 2014.
The use of EHRs among physicians and hospitals has increased significantly in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2013, 78 percent of office-based physicians adopted an EHR system. Approximately 59 percent of hospitals implemented an EHR system, quadruple the percentage from 2010, figures show.
EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. In an EHR, health information can be created and managed by authorized providers in a digital format capable of being shared with other providers across more than one healthcare organization.
About Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH)
Serving Chicago's northwest suburbs since 1959, NCH is a comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year and more than 20,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. The award-winning hospital holds the prestigious Magnet designation for nursing excellence, is designated as a Primary Stroke Center, earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval in 2014, and was awarded the Leapfrog Group's designation as one of the nation's Top Hospitals based on quality and safety criteria. NCH has four Immediate Care locations in the northwest suburbs and operates an NCH Easy Access walk-in clinic in Palatine. NCH has a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians, which includes the board-certified primary care doctors and specialists of the NCH Medical Group. These physicians have selected our facility as a place where they want to treat and care for their private patients. For more information, or to find a doctor on the NCH Medical staff, visit www.nch.org.