University Hospitals Transitions to Epic EHR to Drive Care Coordination

University Hospitals (UH) has transitioned to a unified Epic EHR to enhance care coordination across the health system.

Cliff Megerian, MD, FACS, chief executive officer of UH, noted that the EHR implementation is set to give patients greater access and connectivity to their care teams.

“This implementation showcases the heart of University Hospitals,” Megerian said in a press release. “At a time of continued adversity for many health systems, UH has chosen to invest in the latest and greatest of technologies, and essentially replace the ‘central nervous system’ of our hospitals.”

“In doing so, we are confident that this will become a differentiator in the way we care for patients, and will allow us to continue to deliver service excellence,” Megerian added.

The transition to Epic will improve access to care by streamlining patient scheduling through the MyChart patient portal to make it easier to schedule a follow-up appointment or a new appointment.

MyChart integrates patients’ records at UH with records at other healthcare organizations around Northeast Ohio and the country, ensuring patients can access all their health data.

“Epic will allow us to enhance what makes us different,” said Megerian. “We provide kind, compassionate care. We are the leaders in value. We are the leaders in scientific discovery. We are the hometown team. Everything we do is for this community. Epic helps us to elevate those differentiators.”

Robert K. Eardley, MBA, CIO at UH, said the EHR implementation will help UH streamline care through one unified patient record.

“For many years, our caregivers have had to coordinate the best care for our patients using the tools in nearly twenty different computer applications,” Eardley said. “Moving all of that care to a single integrated record with Epic will allow our exceptional caregivers to more efficiently find the right information and more easily document the best next step of care for that individual. This will enhance the personalized and compassionate approach to care for which we are known.”

UH joins several other large health systems that have announced Epic EHR implementations in recent months, including Intermountain and UPMC .