Mountain View, CA - June 16, 2014 - Last week, employees and physicians of El Camino Hospital joined with a team of Epic leaders to kick off the design and implementation of a new electronic medical record system. This new electronic medical record (EMR) platform, powered by Epic, a leader in health record software, will transform patient care at El Camino Hospital. The system, which will be customized and built for and by El Camino Hospital will be known as iCare, and is projected to go-live in November 2015.
"We are embarking on a journey that advances focus on the patient and one which supports our commitment on the Triple Aim to improve quality, service and affordability," says Tomi Ryba, President and CEO of El Camino Hospital.
Several hundreds of healthcare organizations in the United States have adopted the Epic platform, and nearly half of all patients have an Epic electronic medical record. "This integration will allow us to securely share patient information with other healthcare organizations. This will give us enormous opportunities to know our patients' medical history and better inform their care while there are under our care," says Greg Walton, Chief Information Officer at El Camino Hospital.
"El Camino Hospital has always been a leader in electronic clinical communications with its launch of the nation's first computerized physician order system in 1971," says Debbi Muro, the project leader. "With iCare we are moving into the next generation of electronic information systems."
When fully implemented, iCare will enable patients to access their medical record via MyChart, a fully integrated patient portal. Access to information will improve the patient's care by the patient being fully informed and empowered by having their medical history at their fingertips.