It's Going to be Epic

Post Date: Mar 01, 2018

News & Press

An electronic health record (EHR) is the tool that medical providers, like CHP, use to systematically collect and store health information about you. Your EHR includes summaries of all your visits to CHP, your lab results over time, your vital signs like height, weight, and blood pressure, and a list of all current and past medicines. An effective and efficient EHR software can help improve patient safety and care coordination.

On October 3rd, 2016, CHP implemented the Epic electronic health record software in partnership with Bozeman Health and Sanford Health. Epic is one of the highest-rated EHR software systems in the US and more than 190 million people currently have health records in Epic.

Changing from one EHR software to another required years of planning and preparing. A handful of CHP’s talented employees became Super Trainers (ST) and Super Users (SU). ST/SU’s received extra training, helped make decisions about new workflows to improve patient care, and taught their co-workers how to use the new software.

Jane Mergy, FNP, CHP’s medical provider champion, poured countless hours of work into designing workflows and teaching her fellow nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians how to best use the new software to improve patient care.

“All too often you hear about EHRs being a source of frustration in healthcare,” Jane explained. “My goal with this whole project is to help foster a positive relationship with our EHR so that we can more effectively utilize the tools available to provide excellent patient care. Throughout this process, it has been fun for me to learn the ins and outs of the new EHR so I can share that knowledge with my coworkers.”

Now that the new software is installed, CHP employees are working hard to return to doing what they do best-providing compassionate, respectful care to all patients. And everyone is excited about some of the new tools available. With Epic, all CHP patients are connected to the Bozeman Health system – the hospitals, labs, specialty clinics, and emergency departments – ensuring health information is shared seamlessly. And CHP patients now have access to MyChart, an electronic patient portal that includes secure electronic messaging for non-urgent medical questions, electronic retrieval of lab results, and more.

“I’m very proud of how every CHP employee buckled down and worked extremely hard to prepare for a successful transition,” CHP’s CEO, Lander Cooney, said. “Employees made time for extra training and practice, helped transfer data from our old system to the new one, and supported each other remarkably well through the stress of learning a new system.”

CHP is excited to have new tools at our fingertips to enhance its ability to provide evidence-based and coordinated care in our patient-centered medical home model.