NYU Lutheran has completed a full EHR implementation, going live with Epic Systems yesterday.
Part of NYU Langone Health System, the hospital announced the successful go-live of its Epic EHR at all its Brooklyn locations, including in 22 ancillary systems, NYU Lutheran Medical Center, NYU Lutheran Family Health Centers, and all affiliated practices.
As a part of the Epic implementation, NYU Lutheran adopted the MyChart patient portal, which will allow patients to access their health records and communicate with their providers. The implementation also includes palm-scanning software to ensure the secure check-in of patients.
The Epic go-live also means providers within the NYU health system will be able to share patient information, regardless of which NYU location the patient visits. Providers in Brooklyn will be able to securely exchange patient data with providers in Manhattan facilities.
“Digitizing health records has become a national imperative in order to modernize healthcare for patients and consumers,” Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Robert I. Grossman, MD, said in a public statement. “This enormous undertaking is a key component of our commitment to provide our patients in Brooklyn the world-class care that is a hallmark of the NYU Langone health system.”
Additionally, the EHR implementation integrates ancillary systems including radiology, pharmacy, laboratory, ambulatory, perioperative, patient transport, blood bank, and billing systems.
NYU Lutheran will also connect to Healthix, a public health information exchange in New York.
“The go-live of Epic in our Family Health Centers brings us one step closer to realizing our goal of connecting all of our patients and providers and transforming care in Brooklyn,” added Larry K. McReynolds, Executive Director of NYU Lutheran Family Health Centers. “As we continue to go live across the network and in our school-based health centers, we are extremely excited about Epic’s ability to immediately improve communication between patients and physicians regarding treatment plans, lab test results, appointments, medications, and self-monitoring.”
The Epic implementation required more than a year’s worth of planning by NYU Lutheran staff. IT leaders reportedly worked within the system’s pre-existing EHR in order to strategically and seamlessly implement the Epic EHR technology.
The Epic EHR likewise required a considerable financial investment by NYU Lutheran. It was funded in part by a $29.2 million grant from the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program.
“NYU Langone has made a substantial investment in the future of NYU Lutheran,” said NYU Langone Senior Vice President, Vice Dean, and CIO Nader Mherabi. “The challenge was to create a seamless patient experience across the medical center’s complex network of facilities and locations and to securely manage volumes of health records.”
Ultimately, NYU Lutheran sought to boost patient care with its Epic EHR implementation.
“The integration of NYU Lutheran and these electronic health record innovations have created an efficient, safe, and convenient way we can communicate and deliver healthcare,” noted Bret J. Rudy, MD, Hospital Executive Director and Senior Vice President.
“We created a seamless way to collect information that respects patients’ time as well as their confidentiality,” he continued. “The end result is improved patient satisfaction and reduced costs. This is an exciting new chapter in how patients experience healthcare at NYU Lutheran.”
