An electronic healthcare record (EHR) system implementation may seem daunting, but sometimes it’s precisely what’s needed. Healthcare organizations must balance numerous concerns before deciding to move forward. See how Rochelle Community Hospital decided to implement a new EHR system and why it chose Pointcore to lead the way.
Ensuring Constant Improvement and Growth
Rochelle Community Hospital is a 300-employee, critical access hospital located in rural Illinois that provides essential health and wellness services to the local community. To meet their vision of providing high-quality, community-based health care, Rochelle’s leadership sets periodic strategic initiatives to ensure the hospital’s constant improvement and growth. In 2021, one initiative focused on evaluating its existing technological capabilities and deliberating on whether it was maximizing technology to its fullest potential.
At the time, Rochelle Community Hospital was working with two different EHR systems: Meditech was its inpatient solution, while Athena was its solution in its ambulatory location. Rochelle saw a gap in the quality of patient record sharing because neither Meditech nor Athena’s systems could easily share information into and out of its locations with other providers, or between each other. Being on two systems within its organization and unable to share patient information made its workflows difficult to navigate, so change was necessary to take its operation to the next level.
Rochelle’s leadership took advantage of the opportunity to review its position, as Meditech was pushing out a mandatory upgrade that needed to be tended to if Rochelle Community Hospital wanted to stay on its software. Rochelle’s leadership had to decide how it would invest capital: either upgrading its Meditech solution to stick with something familiar or switching to a different software that would better meet its needs.
CHALLENGE
With the goal of providing the best possible system to benefit patient care, Rochelle researched Epic as its single replacement option for its existing EHR solutions. They knew Epic was considered a gold standard for EHR that had experience in clinical informatics, which meant the system could run in clinics as well as in hospital locations – exactly what Rochelle needed. Additionally, Epic was appealing because the system provided Rochelle with a way to share medical information easily outside of its organization, which would positively impact its community. Rochelle also wanted to give patients a usable way to see their own records, allowing patients more access to manage their own care.
However, Rochelle encountered a few significant obstacles when deciding to pursue adopting Epic’s EHR system. First, being a small, critical access hospital with limited resources, it found itself unable to obtain Epic on its own, unlike larger hospital systems. Second, committing to a large investment to transition to a single EHR system brought not only advantages but also some far-reaching implications. It was critical that Rochelle selected the right system for the right price and that the selection aligned its business and clinical leaders around a singular solution.
This posed a dual challenge: how could Rochelle bring Epic to its small-sized hospital system and get buy-in from all parts of its organization to invest in moving away from its existing technology system?
SOLUTION
Rochelle’s leadership discovered that Pointcore had a solution that was designed for hospitals like theirs through the Epic Community Connect model. As an Epic Connect Accredited site, Pointcore can host clients on its instance of Epic, and in doing so, can extend the benefits of Epic to smaller hospitals that otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain the system on their own.
Rochelle’s leadership brought together its administrative team, IT department, medical staff, and select managers to discuss Pointcore’s solution and align on a potential course of action. The Pointcore team provided consultation through a series of meetings, including hands-on demonstrations, to determine if the Pointcore model would be a viable solution for Rochelle’s needs. With these meetings, Rochelle wanted to ensure that Pointcore could implement Epic, integrate other needed systems and train its team on Epic once implemented, as there was going to be significant change for end users within its organization. Rochelle quickly saw that Pointcore’s solution of hosting Epic would fully meet its needs.
Once alignment was reached on all levels from both a clinical and business/financial standpoint, Rochelle entered a partnership with Pointcore to create Rochelle Care Connect and host Epic at its hospital system for its inpatient and ambulatory locations.
RESULTS
The advantages of choosing Pointcore’s Epic integration solution were substantial:
- Epic was fully integrated into Rochelle’s system across its inpatient and ambulatory locations with the assistance of Pointcore. Rochelle received expert guidance from Pointcore throughout the implementation process and ample staff training from Pointcore’s IT experts.
- After the EHR system implementation, Communication within Rochelle improved, which made for more efficient workflows for staff and easy information sharing between departments and locations.
- Risk management improved as medical information sharing became easy and attainable for outside providers. Doctor’s offices within its community could now benefit from knowing what patients did between provider visits.
- Patient engagement increased as patients could now access their own medical information using Epic MyChart.
- Patients showed greater satisfaction when interacting with Rochelle, as complaints drastically decreased because of the improved workflow efficiency, strengthened communication, and ability to share information. Patients received care and test results in a timely manner and now had the opportunity to be actively involved with their own care.
- Employee recruitment improved once Epic was implemented, giving Rochelle an advantage when looking for quality talent to hire at a critical access hospital. Rochelle found that 90-95% of the clinical staff they interviewed either trained on or had experience using Epic.
Consistently Meeting Needs
After Epic was implemented and staff navigated the learning curve of a new system, Rochelle Community Hospital has experienced happier employees and patients. Both parties have embraced the updated technology, with Rochelle already looking toward the future with the help of Pointcore.
“Epic consistently upgrades its software offerings to improve the user experience. As new options become available that we are interested in, Pointcore integrates those models into our current system to ensure our needs are constantly being met,” says Rochelle CEO, Karen Tracy.
Karen and the Rochelle team are also pleased with Pointcore’s service beyond its Epic hosting capabilities.
“Pointcore is an extension of OSF HealthCare, which means they live in the healthcare world just like we do and have similar principles,” she said. “They truly understand the challenges we face each day, which makes them a trustworthy and reliable partner. In addition to implementing Epic, Pointcore actively supports us in ongoing improvement efforts by providing us with dedicated help when problems arise that need attention. Their expert solutions enhance the value we deliver to our company, and more importantly, to our patients.”
Thrive in a Rapidly Changing Digital World
Discover how Pointcore’s EHR system implementation is part of our larger offering of healthcare technology services.
ABOUT POINTCORE
Pointcore is an innovative healthcare services company that aims to transform healthcare in the communities we serve. We work with organizations to determine their areas of need and then use our unique healthcare expertise to develop a custom solution for each operation. We deliver valuable, actionable insights that can inform the adoption of healthcare digital tools and create a digital plan for the future.
Contact us to connect with a Pointcore representative to talk about how we can help transform care delivery to bring the best care possible to patients.
Frequently Asked Questions About EHR System Implementation
As a leading Epic integrator, Pointcore receives many questions about EHR system implementation. Here are some common inquiries.
What are the benefits of implementing Epic in a hospital setting?
Benefits include improved patient care coordination, enhanced data security, efficient billing processes, and comprehensive access to patient medical histories.
How long does an Epic implementation typically take?
The timeline can vary depending on the size and complexity of the healthcare institution. Pointcore works with healthcare organizations to ensure an efficient implementation process.
What challenges are associated with Epic integration?
Challenges may include the initial cost, the need for extensive staff training, ongoing system maintenance, and potential disruptions during the integration period. Pointcore’s Epic integration service helps minimize all these challenges.
