Ephraim McDowell Health announced that it has launched an integrated ambulatory Electronic Health 
Record (EHR) from LSS Data Systems. The new EHR offers connection between Ephraim McDowell Health clinics and their hospitals, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center and Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital.
This month, three of The Ephraim McDowell Health clinics, the Immediate Care at Stanford Medical Park, North Garrard Family Medical Center and Ephraim McDowell Lancaster, starting using Medical and Practice Management (MPM) by LSS Data Systems. The new system allows secure sharing of data, of the three clinics, with their MEDITECH hospital software, providing one medical record for each patient throughout the whole organization. By using the new EHR, physicians in the clinics of the organization are going to access, securely, the medical information regarding their patients in the hospital. The ambulatory EHR software works on the same platform and seamlessly exchanges data with the hospital software, permitting a single list of medical problems and medications in addition to other significantly important health data.
Vicki A. Darnell, President and Chief Executive Officer at Ephraim McDowell Health, said "The benefits will be significant in terms of the quality of care, patient safety and the cost of providing care," adding "One example is adverse drug interactions and drug allergies, which are automatically checked by the system when physicians place orders. Physicians won’t just see medications they have prescribed, but those ordered in the hospital and other facilities as well. They also will receive immediate notification of laboratory and radiology results, and they can electronically order tests, prescriptions, referrals and follow-up appointments."
Staff at LSS Data Systems expressed appreciation for the organization's use of the new EHR. The three pilot clinics are currently using almost all of the functionality of the software, such as documentation, scanning & importing, and e-prescribing. Stacey Payne, LSS Senior Applications Specialist and the site’s implementation specialist, said "Three pilot clinics going live at once is an accomplishment," she added "Three clinics going live with so much functionality is even more impressive." While LSS Director of Client Services, Jay Dering, said "All of the staff who have worked with the organization have been impressed by how proactive they’ve been with their implementation of the software. They’re really focused on the end goal, doing a thorough job testing, preparing and getting their providers the training they need to effectively use the system." Ephraim McDowell Health is planning to use the software in the eight remaining clinics during next months, aiming to connect all affiliated physicians practices to their enterprise EHR by next autumn.
