UAMS Regional Campuses Upgrade Health Record Software
| More than 65,000 patients across Arkansas now have better access to seamless care with the conversion of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Regional Campuses to Epic electronic medical record software.
Epic has been used in central Arkansas at the UAMS Medical Center and UAMS clinics for approximately eight years.
Epic allows UAMS physicians from the Little Rock campus to better collaborate with care teams across the state. This allows for streamlined flow of clinical information across a fully integrated UAMS Health system. Records are not only more accessible for providers across the network, but also transferrable for patients anywhere in the system.
“We have been planning for this conversion for several years, and we are pleased to be able to stay on schedule despite the challenges of COVID-19,” said UAMS Chief Information Officer Michael Greer.
During the conversion process, approximately 60 attending physicians, 150 residents and 320 clinical employees trained on Epic.
“It is important for our care providers not only to be well versed in the health care sciences, but also to be adept users of modern clinical technology such as electronic medical records. This assures that our patients get the best outcomes,” said David A. Nelsen, Jr., M.D., UAMS associate chief clinical information officer.
The UAMS Regional Campuses began the conversion to Epic in September 2019 and continued through the end of 2020 at Regional Campus clinical locations in Helena, Pine Bluff, Fayetteville, Springdale, Batesville, Jonesboro, Texarkana, Magnolia and Fort Smith.
“This conversion took a tremendous amount of coordination and hard work across a number of different teams, many of whom often work without much recognition or spotlight,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “That includes our IT department and the Clinical Informatics team, our various trainers, project leaders and the leadership in teams in nursing, billing and scheduling. Of course, it also includes all our Regional Campus employees.”
Patterson said the unified health record system will benefit patients tremendously and will also benefit the institution by improving patient care, productivity and revenue.
“The conversion to Epic is an important step in our continuing drive to advance the health and health care of all Arkansans,” he said.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###