WellSpan Philhaven has begun the process of launching a new electronic health record system that will help to transform the way it delivers behavioral health care across the region.
Beginning this week, the regional behavioral health organization will transition to an advanced record system, starting with its Mt. Gretna-based inpatient units, lab, pharmacy, patient access and registration, among other services. Its outpatient services in Dauphin, Lancaster and Lebanon counties will adopt the system in stages through the end of the year.
WellSpan Philhaven locations in York and Adams counties, and its inpatient unit at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital in Lancaster County, have already adopted the new system.
The system, a product of Epic – a leading national health care software firm based in Wisconsin – will allow patients to more easily connect with their care team. It also will allow for better coordination of patients’ care across WellSpan’s locations in central Pennsylvania.
Epic allows WellSpan Philhaven to maintain all of its patient information on one electronic health record platform, providing one record for patients no matter where they receive care in the system.
Phil Hess, senior vice president of WellSpan Health and president of WellSpan Philhaven, said the transition to the new electronic health record system fits with the organization’s longstanding mission of “finding a better way” to serve its patients.
“The new system saves our caregivers time and makes them more efficient, allowing them more time to spend with our patients,” he said. “It lets us focus on their most important job, which is helping our patients to achieve better mental and emotional health.”
WellSpan Philhaven’s transition is just the latest phase in WellSpan Health’s care transformation initiative that began in 2014 as an effort to consolidate the growing health system’s multiple electronic health record systems into one, unified platform.
In 2017, WellSpan transitioned its hospitals, physician offices and outpatient locations in Adams, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties to the Epic system. WellSpan locations in Franklin and Cumberland counties are scheduled to transition to Epic in October 2020.
About WellSpan Health
WellSpan Health is an integrated health system that serves the communities of central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. The organization is comprised of approximately 1,500 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a regional behavioral health organization, a home care organization, eight respected hospitals, more than 19,000 employees, and more than 170 patient care locations. WellSpan is a charitable, mission-driven organization, committed to exceptional care for all, lifelong wellness and healthy communities.