New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation Electronic Health Records System — Fact Sheet February 2009
Feb 19, 2009
- Early adopter of electronic health records – since 1991.
- HHC has invested more than $100 million annually to build advanced health IT primarily though the development of a robust Electronic Health Records system (EHR).
- All 11 public hospitals’ inpatient units and outpatient settings, as well as all of HHC’s community based health centers have access to EHRs.
- Nearly 10,000 users online at any one time, including physicians, nurses, social workers and others.
Examples of Decision Support Features – Real Time Guidance for Standards of Care
- Asthma action plans are embedded in the electronic medical record and can be printed for patients to guide them in their self-management efforts.
- A depression screening tool is embedded in the EHR to help primary care physicians identify patients who suffer from this prevalent disease.
- The EHR calculates a patient’s risk of deep vein thrombosis (or blood clots) and recommends the most appropriate preventative measures based upon the relative severity of the risk.
Medication Safety Features
- Electronic order entry — all medications are ordered on-line with built-in alerts for possible adverse drug interactions and dosing errors.
- Pharmacists can dispense medication remotely and nurses can scan patient ID bracelets at bedside, retrieve the appropriate prescription information and administer the medication to ensure the right medication gets to the right patient in the right dose and at the right time.
Ability to Improve Health Outcomes – Examples of Better Diabetic Care
- Patient clinical information is mined from the EHR each evening to update an electronic diabetic patient database used to closely monitor the health status of 56,000 diabetic patients. This database enables physicians to better help with control of patients’ blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- The system tracks clinical data for each diabetic patient, including whether essential eye and foot exams have been performed regularly. It has special features that help doctors follow best clinical practices, quickly review if medications are making an impact and allows the health care team to focus on patients in need of extra attention.
Easy Access to comprehensive electronic records, test results
- Virtually all radiological and other diagnostic imaging is digital and is integrated into the EHR, making images accessible on the computer screen in any exam room.
- All lab tests are ordered on-line and results are accessible on-line.
IT Excellence
Two of HHC’s Regional Networks have earned the coveted Nicholas E. Davies Award from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society for excellence in using electronic health records to improve healthcare delivery. Only two other healthcare systems have earned the Davis award twice: the VA System and Keiser Permanente.
IT Leadership
HHC President Alan Aviles received the national CEO IT Achievement Award from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and Modern Healthcare Magazine for leadership in the use of information technology to advance healthcare excellence.