VCU Health Epic EHR Implementation Aims to Boost Patient Experience

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health has announced an Epic EHR implementation which is set to enhance interoperability for streamlined care coordination and boost the patient experience.

All VCU Health hospitals and clinics will implement the new system on the same day, except for VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital and its Warsaw location, which will follow in March 2022.

“To deliver patient-centered care to everyone, we knew that we needed a fully connected network throughout our entire enterprise,” Art Kellermann, MD, CEO of VCU Health System, noted in a press release.

“Epic will help us work more efficiently and strengthen our already excellent patient care,” Kellerman, who also serves as senior vice president for health sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, added. “It will also make it easier for our patients and referring physicians to communicate with us. As a result, we’ll make better care decisions in less time — all in partnership with our patients.”

The EHR implementation is expected to boost interoperability across the VCU Health network for streamlined care coordination.

Additionally, many patient-facing platforms will merge into one, which aims to enhance the patient experience. The new online patient portal, VCU Health MyChart, will allow patients to request new appointments, pay bills, review prescriptions and test results, see price estimates, and communicate directly with VCU Health providers.

“As a result of switching to Epic, care at VCU Health will be quicker and easier than ever before, and our patient experience will look and feel better than it does today,” said Nathan Cunningham, director of patient experience at VCU Health System.

Patients will also be able to conveniently access the secure patient portal on their mobile phone after downloading the app from iPhone or Android app stores, which was not possible with the healthcare organization’s legacy health IT system.

Additionally, patients will no longer need a third-party application to join telehealth appointments, as the implementation supports telehealth appointments directly within VCU Health MyChart.

The current My VCU Health patient portal will no longer serve as the patient portal for VCU Health patients after December 4. View-only access of data previously stored in the My VCU Health patient portal will be available for several weeks.

Cunningham noted that patients should expect slight delays in service as the organization implements the new system.

“During the first days and weeks of the transition, we want our patients to know that their service may be a little slower because the system is different from what we had before,” he said. “That is why we encourage our patients to plan for a little extra time and patience.”

“With months of training ahead of this upgrade, our teams will quickly master the new system,” Cunningham added. “And soon after implementation, our patients will enjoy the benefits of our hard work and dedication to improving their experience.”

The transition will affect all VCU Health System hospitals and clinics in the Greater Richmond area, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, South Hill, and Williamsburg.