MALVERN, Ark. – Baptist Health is improving the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care in Hot Spring County. Patient charts at Baptist Health Medical Center-Hot Spring County (BHMC-HSC) will become electronic on Oct. 1 utilizing Epic, the leading vendor of healthcare software.
“Electronic medical record systems can actively search for and analyze information in ways that paper files never can, thereby improving patient’s health,” said Sheila Williams, vice-president and administrator at BHMC-HSC. “This new way of documenting will help us to spend more time with patients because we’ll be able to document many things right at the bedside.”
Baptist Health-HSC has used a partial electronic medical record for the last several years. The new Epic system will be a comprehensive system that will virtually replace the paper record leaving only a few items on paper that will be scanned into the system after the patients discharge. The Epic system is private, safe and secure.
“We are all very excited for the opportunity to work with this new technology. Epic will reduce errors, improve the quality of care and allow us to access patient records from other facilities that use Epic such as Baptist Health in Arkadelphia and Little Rock,” said Dee Schall, RN, and chief nursing officer at BHMC-HSC. “This will allow us to provide more comprehensive care for our patients and will reduce duplication of tests and procedures. We would never have had access to this product without being a part of Baptist Health.”
Baptist Health has utilized a team of specialists to work with the staff in Malvern and have been meeting weekly since April in order to make a smooth and successful change.
Baptist Health is an Arkansas-based, locally owned and managed, not-for-profit, faith-based health-care organization. Baptist Health is Arkansas’ most comprehensive health-care system with more than 7,600 employees operating eight hospitals. For more information about Baptist Health, call Baptist Health HealthLine at 1-888-BAPTIST.