Last week, Pike County Memorial Hospital (PCMH) successfully launched an advanced health information technology (IT) system as part of its drive to create an advanced, “paperless” electronic health record (EHR). This new system captures health information electronically as patients receive care and provides caregivers with up-to-date information when and where they need it – from the emergency department to the patient bedside.

“Our doctors, nurses and other caregivers will have much easier, faster access to patient information, and that means they can make care decisions faster without having to locate paper patient charts,” said Lorraine Harness, PCMH administrator.

The new hospital information system (HIS), called Paragon^®, is from McKesson, the world’s largest healthcare technology and services company. With the installation, PCMH joins the growing number of community hospitals across the nation using EHRs to help improve patient safety and create greater efficiencies in providing care.

The patient’s physician will have access to secure internet connections, where they can see patient laboratory results, radiology reports, transcription data, medical images and other documentation. With this secure online view of the EHR, physicians can check in on patients and make care decisions whether in the hospital, their office, or at home.

“Excellent personal health care is at the center of everything we do here, so it’s been very empowering to have new electronic tools at our fingertips,” said Ronna Roberts, PCMH director of the project.

PCMH employees have been working hard for more than a year to ensure the switch to the new system does not affect patient care as PCMH transitions from paper to electronic patient records.

“With any new tool, there is a learning curve,” Roberts said. “If you are a patient at PCMH, we ask for your patience as we implement this new electronic system. Rest assured that we are dedicated to giving you the best patient care.”

PCMH staff underwent several hours of training to become more familiar with the system before it was implemented at the hospital and are still spending time learning to navigate the system efficiently.

Pike County Memorial Hospital serves residents of Pike County and beyond. PCMH provides extensive inpatient and outpatient services that include the latest technologies in radiology and vascular services, laboratory testing, surgery and physical therapy. The hospital’s clinics include services in cardiology, ENT, neurology, orthopedics, pain management, podiatry, pulmonology and rheumatology.

 A state-of-the-art Emergency Department is staffed 24 hours a day to serve the area. PCMH operates the ambulance service for the Pike County area. In addition to the services provided through the hospital, there are Eastern Missouri Health Services clinics located in Bowling Green and Louisiana that provide family health medical services to individuals in the community. For more information about Pike County Memorial Hospital, visit www.pcmhmo.org, or call 573-754-5531.