Pullman, WA—The Pullman Regional Hospital Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with implementing Epic, a new electronic medical record system for the hospital and its network of clinics to pursue a vision of one patient, one record so that current healthcare information for patients is in one safe place.
The hospital has pursued this initiative since 2017; it was a component of The Next Era of Excellence and a funding priority for the hospital’s bond measures. It remains a priority, and will be funded by the hospital and philanthropy.
Epic is the most utilized electronic medical record in the nation and the state of Washington; 59% of hospitals nationwide use Epic and 77% of Washington hospitals use Epic.
“The vision for a single electronic medical record is patient-focused care,” said Scott Adams, Pullman Regional Hospital CEO. “It’s having the most accurate information at your provider’s fingertips so that the people charged with your care can make a complete and accurate diagnosis, it’s seamless scheduling, and it’s empowering patients by making it simple and easy to access a complete record of their medical history.”
The hospital will partner with Providence to use Epic. “We needed a partner to implement this technology because we are a small hospital,” said Jeannie Eylar, Pullman Regional Hospital Chief Clinical officer. “After researching options, we chose Providence because of long standing relationships, the ability to see more data points with the specialists we transfer to and Providence’s experience working with more than 20 critical access hospitals to implement the Epic electronic medical record.”
Epic will replace Meditech Magic, which will be discontinued in 2023. The upgrade will also include implementing Workday a cloud-based software, which supports operations, financial management such as billing, accounts receivable, asset management, supply ordering, contract management, and payroll. This one system will replace Meditech and a variety of other platforms that performed all of these functions.
“In emergency medicine, an accurate medical record for a patient is like the difference between Google maps and directions drawn on a napkin. EMR incompatibility and paper records are incredible barriers for doctors and patients. Implementing Epic at our hospital, clinics and all the practices in our community will move care to the next level.” Dr. Pete Mikkelsen, Medical Director of Emergency Services and Chief Medical Officer.
“Epic was a proven EMR in my experience working at Seattle Children’s. This technology gives me real-time access to my patient’s data–which is especially crucial when your patients are children. This is the best solution for a modern system for a hospital and community like ours.” Dr. Jonathan Lee, Pediatrician.
The project implementation cost is $5 million which includes Epic and Workday purchase with a majority of the cost allocated to onboarding—building and testing modules and staff training and education. Ongoing annual support fees of $1 million are equivalent to current Meditech yearly fees paid for by the hospital.
“The initial investment may seem high, but the efficiency we’ll gain, and more importantly, the benefit to patients, will be tenfold,” said Sheri Cutler, Director of Clinical Informatics at Pullman Regional Hospital. “We will be able to seamlessly schedule patients, make real time referrals and have real time prior authorization. What that means is dramatically reducing wait time from weeks to minutes.”
Implementation will take about a year. Epic is slated to be live for patients and providers March 2023 for Pullman Regional Hospital and its network of clinics which include, Palouse Health Clinic (Palouse, WA) Palouse Heart Center, Palouse Pediatrics (Moscow and Pullman), Palouse Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Palouse Sleep Medicine, Pullman Family Medicine, Pullman Foot & Ankle, Pullman Surgical Associates, Summit Therapy & Health Services and the WSU Family Medicine Residency Clinic.
Contact: Alison Weigley, Director of External Relations
Pullman Regional Hospital & Foundation
Office: (509) 332-2041 / Cell: (509) 330-0242
alison.weigley@pullmanregional.org