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Contact: Donna Mancuso
Public Affairs Manager
(732) 499-6118
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For Immediate Release:
April 7, 2009
Robert Wood Johnson Rahway Launches
Electronic Records System
Rahway - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway has successfully launched its electronic medical records system which allows medical professionals hospital wide to view a patient’s chart and history, test results and medications, as well as new create order sets.
In making the conversion, Robert Wood Rahway joins an elite group of hospitals moving from paper medical records to a computerized chart. Only 1.5 percent of hospitals nationwide have comprehensive electronic medical record systems, and only 8 percent of hospitals have an electronic records system that includes physician and nursing notes, according to a recently published study of the New England Journal of Medicine,
The project, which was completed on-time and on-budget, is helping Robert Wood Rahway eliminate the risks associated with written orders, paper forms and multiple “handoffs” of information between providers.
The new system offers staff physicians, nurses and other members of the patient care team a unified on-screen view of the patient’s latest clinical data, such as care plans, laboratory test results, procedures and nutritional services to better coordinate and communicate as a care team, support quicker more informed treatment decisions, and help to prevent medication errors – the largest patient safety concern in hospitals nationwide.
The Sunrise Clinical Manager system, made by Eclypsis Corp., is the same one used at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton.
“By replacing stand-alone software systems in certain departments with one that cuts across departments to capture all relevant patient data, we’re removing time and communication barriers,” said Kirk Tice, president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway.
Diane Maiorino, RN, one of the hospital’s nurses who helped train staff on the new system, noted that before electronic medical records, staff was constantly trying to track down the medical chart. “Now it’s all here on the screen. The doctors can see it. The nurses can see it. The therapists can see it.”
Electronic medical records are a key component of the Obama adminstration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act includes $19 billion for promoting electronic medical records among the nation’s health care providers because of the projected gains in efficiency and cost savings associated with such systems.
“Even before the stimulus, we were convinced this technology would support us in providing high quality, safer care,” added Tice. “Now with a hospital-wide health record in place, we are well prepared and ahead of the curve to meet stimulus benefit requirements and other federal requirements for similar technologies that may follow.”
Founded in 1917, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System, one of the largest health care systems in New Jersey and the only one with a medical school as a partner.
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