MyChart: A New Electronic Health Record

TogetherCare/Epic includes new features patients love.

Effective this Saturday, Oct. 29, St. Mary’s is undertaking the biggest change in the way we provide care in our 116 year history. We will transition from our current health record systems – including six different electronic health record (EHR) platforms and paper documentation – to a new EHR called Epic.

A major part of this change is unprecedented access for patients to their own health information. A feature in Epic called MyChart will allow you to see results of tests, review notes entered by your doctor and other providers, communicate with your provider, even schedule office visits in some instances. More on MyChart in the Q&A below.

Why does St. Mary’s new EHR matter to me?

An EHR is how all care is documented. Epic seamlessly integrates the care you receive in the hospital with care you receive outside the hospital, including lab results, imaging (such as mammograms or x-rays), and physician office visits. The EHR is also the basis for billing.

Why is Epic an improvement?

So many reasons! Here are a few.

Unifying our health records.

St. Mary’s has grown dramatically since our current EHR, Meditech, was implemented. Not only is the Meditech platform showing its age, over the course of time, we have acquired other hospitals and practices that use different platforms. TogetherCare/Epic will replace our six platforms – which often don’t work well with each other – with one platform through which providers can communicate seamlessly.

Enhanced communications.

Epic offers a number of fast, secure ways for your care team to communicate with each other. Communications between doctors, nurses, therapists and others will be faster, more accurate, and more reliable than ever.

More reliable billing.

With more reliable documentation and communications comes greater accuracy in patient billing, filing insurance, and requesting reimbursement from government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Patients will have access to more transparency in billing, and will be able to have higher confidence that their bill is accurate.

Nationwide portability.

Because Epic is one of the most widely used EHRs in America, it will be easier for St. Mary’s to share health information securely with doctors and hospitals locally and around the nation. So – for example – if you are visiting Michigan and need emergency care at a hospital using Epic, we’ll be able to send them important information from your EHR that can enhance your quality of care immediately.

Can I control what information you share and who you share it with?

Epic provides you with the same legally required control over your personal health information that you have now.

I have small children. Will I be able to access their medical records?

Yes. MyChart allows parents and legal guardians to access the records of children under age 18, with a few limitations as children enter their teenage years. There are also ways for caregivers to access health information for older patients under certain circumstances, such as when an elderly person develops dementia and can no longer make healthcare decisions on their own.

What else does MyChart do?

As mentioned above, you can use it to see your provider’s notes about your care, view lab and other test results, review your medications, get information about procedures, write to and receive messages from your doctor, schedule office visits, and more. Want to find out what your blood sugar level was at your most recent testing? It will be in MyChart! There’s even a version of MyChart that will be used if you are hospitalized, so after your hospital visit, you can use your MyChart login to access information from your hospital stay, too!

I’m already using St. Mary’s MyHealth portal. What will happen to those records?

Don’t worry, all records from the past three years currently in MyHealth are being moved over to MyChart, including the detailed health history your doctor has about you. If you want to include other information from your health history, you will be able to add it yourself.

MyChart sounds great! How do I sign up?

If you currently are enrolled in the MyHealth portal, watch your email inbox for an invitation to sign up for MyChart. If you are a patient in a St. Mary’s Medical Group practice but not currently enrolled in MyHealth, we will send you an invitation. If you are a new patient at one of our practices, our staff will help you sign up before your visit or while you are in the office. And if you are a patient admitted to one of our hospitals, our staff will help you sign up while you are in the hospital.

Is the transition to Epic difficult for staff and providers?

Yes, it’s a challenge. We have been training providers and staff since summer, and work to upgrade equipment and processes has been going on for more than a year. We have had the guidance and expertise of dozens of Trinity Health hospitals that have gone live with Epic before. During go-live and the week or so after, we will have some 500 colleagues from other Trinity Health hospitals here to help us. They will provide at-the-elbow assistance at all of our hospitals, medical group practices and outpatient facilities to help our staff and providers make the transition.

What is your top priority during the transition?

Our top priority is – and will always be – the care and safety of our patients.

One last thing: Why do you call it TogetherCare?

Because it is bringing our health care team, external providers, and our patients together in new and better ways than ever before. It is truly transformational. Together, we are providing safer, more effective, and more compassionate care than ever before.

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