Epic Creates More User-Friendly Experience for Patients, Employees

In the nearly seven months since Albany Medical Center launched its new electronic medical record (EMR) platform, Wilbur Hitt Jr., MD, with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the transformation has been remarkable.

“We’re at a point of evolution,” said Dr. Hitt. “For both patients and providers, Epic and our new patient portal are much more user friendly.”

Albany Medical Center became the first hospital in the Albany Med Health System to launch Epic in March. Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital, and Saratoga Hospital will go live with the platform in early November, unifying the health system under a single EMR. The switch will connect patient records for inpatient and outpatient services throughout each hospital and offsite clinic, meaning that a patient’s information will be readily available at all locations throughout the System.

Epic also connects scheduling, registration, and billing, and introduces a new patient portal, MyChart. Through MyChart, patients have secure access to their health information, allowing them to easily schedule and manage their appointments, request prescription refills, complete pre-visit forms, message their doctor, view test results, and pay their bills. Patients can also read notes from their doctor, giving them a fuller picture of what they spoke about during a visit.

Both Dr. Hitt and William Papura, DO, associate chief medical officer at Glens Falls Hospital, said that MyChart is one of the most positive changes for patients in the System. Dr. Hitt said that many of his patients have signed up. As of late August, over 93,000 Albany Medical Center patients registered for MyChart.

“It’s been incredibly beneficial to patients,” said Dr. Hitt. “They now have a clear, concise record of what they spoke about with their doctor, they can fill out forms beforehand, their test results are in one place. It makes for a better experience.”

When Glens Falls Hospital goes live with Epic and MyChart, Dr. Papura said that MyChart will help increase access to care for patients by allowing for better interaction between patients and their own health information and with their doctors.

“Epic is quite sophisticated. It has a multitude of very useful capabilities, but looking specifically at patient care, it really supports it on an individual level and across a population level,” Dr. Papura said.

Currently, Glens Falls Hospital, like Columbia Memorial Health and Saratoga Hospital, uses multiple EMR platforms that hold different patient information. This will change once Epic launches.

Previously, Albany Medical Center had also operated with multiple EMR systems, each with a different purpose such as one for inpatient hospital stays and another for offsite clinic visits. Dr. Hitt said that unifying inpatient and outpatient records is particularly beneficial for patients and staff within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as many of their patients often have hospital stays in addition to regular visits with an OB/GYN. Having a patient’s most up-to-date information in one single platform has made their work significantly more efficient, said Dr. Hitt. Epic also makes it easier to access patient records from other health care organizations that use Epic.

“We’re really benefiting from the seamless nature of the inpatient and outpatient experience in Epic,” he said. “It’s huge in creating more consistency in the continuity of care for patients that have gotten care both in and out of the Albany Med Health System.”

Over the past several weeks, staff at Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital, and Saratoga Hospital have been undergoing training and readiness activities, with support from Albany Medical Center employees, to prepare for the November Epic launch. Dr. Papura applauded the staff who have stepped up during the Epic project—one of the most significant transformations to occur at the Albany Med Health System.

“With the whole health system on one EMR platform, it will, in a sense, expand local health care options by better linking and giving patients access to the unique services that we offer,” said Dr. Papura.