Enhanced use of EMRs at Ascension

Meena Iyer, MD, CMO, Dell Children’s Medical Center, Ascension Health.  Electronic medical record (EMR) use in healthcare has come a long way in today’s health systems.  There are several features in the EMR that make patient care easy, efficient and safe. One of the biggest accomplishments Dell Children’s has achieved in their EMR is “CORES,” a feature that helps identify the physician taking care of the patient. In turn, this helps everyone on the care management team (e.g., bedside nurse, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, case manager, etc.) reach out to the right provider in a timely manner. This feature is also used for “handoff” which is one of the essential components of effective patient care as defined by the Joint Commission. Dr. Iyer discusses Ascension’s significant decrease in clinical errors on patient handoffs since they started implementing “CORES,” designed to make healthcare transparent and safe.