Mercy Health Center Prepping For Big Changes This Weekend

A metro hospital is on the brink of giant change. Mercy Health Center is scheduled to launch their electronic health record system over the weekend.

Friday, June 25th 2010, 9:13 pm

By: News 9


By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A metro hospital is on the brink of giant change. Mercy Health Center is scheduled to launch their electronic health record system over the weekend.

The change will give doctors and nurses instant access to patient medical records across state lines.

It's a $450 million investment, and 300 clinics within the Mercy network have already made the change. The Mercy Health Centers in Oklahoma City and Ardmore will mark the 7th and 8th hospitals to go live on the integrated system.

"I've never in all my years of nursing and in healthcare seen something as big as what we're doing right now," said director of nursing Pam Spanbauer, who has been a nurse for 25 years.

The change is expected to make facilities more efficient and able to provide better care. Teams are currently transferring all patient information into the electronic system.

Once finished, nurses and doctors will be able to access information from clinics across four states. The network includes Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas.

"If you're traveling and get care in one state, that doctor will be able to pull up your record. When you come back, your doctor will be able to see the kind of treatment you got out of state just by going to the computer," Spanbauer said.

The move also means a quicker turnaround of lab results, better alerts for potential drug interaction, and legible notes.

About 300 Mercy workers from out of state hospitals who have already made the switch are in town to help both Mercy in Oklahoma City and Ardmore make the change. The Oklahoma hospitals will begin using the system at 4 a.m. Sunday.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

June 25th, 2010

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024