The Chesapeake Hospital Authority is ready to roll out a fully integrated clinical and revenue management information technology system at the Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, a 310-bed hospital in Chesapeake, Va.
Implementation will begin in June and take about two years to complete.
Once installed, the new IT system, developed by McKesson, will give Chesapeake Regional a comprehensive electronic medical record, automated medication management process and integrated revenue management capabilities.
The technology is specifically designed to address the needs of a community hospital, McKesson executives said. The electronic documentation system will allow caregivers to review patient status and document clinical assessments and findings, they said. That information then becomes part of the integrated patient record, enabling clinicians across multiple disciplines to communicate, document, evaluate and coordinate each patient's progress.
Point-of-care applications, such as bar-code medication administration and computerized provider order entry, will help ensure that physicians and nurses have the tools they need to provide care. And McKesson's document management solution will enable physicians to access, review and complete patient charts online while also streamlining the billing process.
"This new system will allow us to continue improving our clinical quality, patient safety and quality initiatives by giving our clinicians the ability to make faster, more informed decisions," said Christopher Mosley, Chesapeake Regional's president and CEO. "Our patients will directly benefit from an enhanced healthcare experience and can expect to experience greater efficiencies and enhanced care team collaboration. "
Mosley said the Chesapeake physicians who reviewed technology from several vendors agreed that McKesson's systems were easier to use.
With more than 600 physicians, Chesapeake Regional is one of the busiest hospitals in Hampton Roads, Va., according to Chesapeake executives.
Chesapeake also will implement McKesson's new revenue management solution to automate operational and financial processes. Tasks that were typically performed after discharge will now be completed at the beginning of the patient registration process, which should streamline patient interactions with the hospital while improving staff efficiency and productivity.
"During the past year, we have performed an exhaustive review of both our clinical and business systems," said Ken Deans, Chesapeake Regional's vice president and chief information officer. "While our existing core information systems have served us well and propelled us forward technologically, it was time to introduce enhanced capabilities into our environment to support a higher level of clinical and financial sophistication."
"We needed a technology partner whose tools could be customized with our decision support content and disease management capabilities to assist our practitioners in delivering the best possible care," Deans said.
