ALBANY — Albany Med Health System has launched a unified electronic medical record to streamline patient care across its network.
In November, Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital, and Saratoga Hospital joined Albany Medical Center in transitioning to Epic, an industry-leading EMR platform. The switch consolidates multiple independent systems, allowing providers to access patient records across locations.
“Medical information has been centralized into one complete and comprehensive EMR platform accessible by health care staff throughout the Health System and the patients as well,” said Elena LeBarron, RN, nurse clinical coordinator at Saratoga Hospital. “It allows better transparency of medical information for the patient, empowering them and their families or caregivers to be more aware of and more involved in their medical care.”
The transition also introduced MyChart, a patient portal that allows users to access test results, schedule appointments, request prescription refills, and message doctors. Patients admitted to a hospital can also receive real-time updates on their care.
For hospital staff, the EMR system has reduced reliance on paper records and improved efficiency.
“The information sharing and inter-facility availability is a significant improvement,” LeBarron said.
Dr. Robert Magee of Columbia Memorial Health said that while staff faced a learning curve when the platform launched, they quickly adapted.
“We are already seeing benefits to the standardization of a medical record, ” he said.
