Electronic records system goes online at area hospital

Michelle Swafford

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

North Vista Hospital, formerly Lake Mead Hospital, launched its electronic patient records system Tuesday, becoming the seventh of 11 Las Vegas Valley hospitals to convert.

Physicians, nurses, and other hospital staff involved in patient care can access patients' records simultaneously, remotely and in real time, eliminating paper and lag time in the process. Mobile computers are rolled into patients' rooms to keep records updated and the system is linked to medical devices such as ventilators, diagnostic equipment and cardiac monitors so patients' records can be continuously updated.

North Vista was the first of IASIS Healthcare LLC's 15 hospitals to convert to an electronic records system. But $40 million has been committed to convert all of the Arizona, Utah, Florida and Texas hospitals.

"We're using rolling computers at the bedside to input vital signs and patient assessments and to view test results," Punch Fermin, chief nursing officer at North Vista Hospital said in a statement. "With the computers, our nurses can work through the so-called paperwork faster than before -- and they can do it without having to use paper at all."

In addition to less paperwork, nurses have the benefit of electronically generated to-do lists that remind them to administer certain medications and other tasks that can be forgotten.

In February, North Vista will launch a bar code system that will require nurses to scan patients' wristbands and the medication before it can be administered, which is supposed to reduce dose errors.

Universal Health Services Inc., which owns four Las Vegas Valley hospitals called the Valley Health System, is implementing an electronic medical records system in stages. The company's newest local hospital, Spring Valley, is the furthest along in the conversion from paper to computers.

Spring Valley enters all of its patient care electronically in real time, while its sister hospitals use an electronic system that allows health providers to post medical information to a secured Internet site and view it remotely, but the information is not in real time, said Mike Tymczyn, spokesman for the Valley Health System, said.

By the end of 2005, all Valley Health System hospitals will have the real-time system, he said. In 2006 about 90 percent of the Valley Health System's electronic medical records initiatives will be completed.

Last week, the Valley Health System launched a program that links cardiology records, EKGs specifically, through a shared system for the four Valley Health System hospitals, Tymczyn said.

Spring Valley also has radiology films on computer, which speeds up the process for physicians who are waiting on the results to determine treatment, Tymczyn said.

HCA Inc., which owns Southern Hills, Sunrise and MountainView hospitals in Las Vegas, has several electronic records initiatives under way.

All three hospitals have electronic patient records that allow physicians to access records in real time from their homes and offices using secured passwords and identifiers.

Southern Hills, which is the company's newest hospital, is the most advanced with its electronic integration. The hospital has computers in each patient room that enable nurses to update patient information during the care process. Also, all of the hospital's radiology films are viewable and transportable electronically.

Sunrise and MountainView have wireless laptops on carts that can be pushed into patients' rooms to update records. The two hospitals are able to view electronic radiology films in some of their departments, but have not fully integrated their facilities, Amy Dirks Stevens, vice president of business development for HCA's Las Vegas market.

All three HCA hospitals have a bar coding system for medications that requires nurses to scan a wristband and the medication before administering it to the patient.

"They're all patient safety initiatives," MountainView spokesman Rick Plummer said.

In Sunrise's obstetrics department, the fetal monitors alert nurses to various problems and the information is linked to the electronic patient charts, allowing physicians to check on pregnant patients during the pre-labor phase, Stevens said.

Sunrise, Southern Hills and MountainView are also in a testing phase for a system that allows physicians to electronically order lab work, X-rays and other tests, she said.

"It's eliminating all of that illegible handwriting," Stevens said. "It's a point and click."

Catholic Healthcare West, which owns St. Rose Dominican Hospitals -- Siena and Rose de Lima Campuses, has real-time electronic patients' records in most of its departments.

That includes electronic lab and radiology results, pathology reports, physicians' findings and notes, medication orders, nurses' notes and the care plan, St. Rose spokesman Andy North said, adding the at the Siena Campus computers are located just outside patients' rooms.

The Henderson hospitals' emergency rooms will be converted to electronic systems in 2006, he said.

Also, in 2006, physicians will be able to order lab work and diagnostic tests electronically.