As part of a major clinical initiative aimed at establishing more
patient-centered care, Liberty Hospital, a 250-bed community hospital
located in Liberty, MO, has successfully activated integrated clinical
components of Eclipsys’ Sunrise Enterprise™ suite of solutions. As part
of a rolling implementation strategy, Liberty Hospital chose to first
transform its emergency department (ED) operations — typically
the most daunting area of the hospital to install technology because of
the critical need to quickly capture data to triage multiple patients
simultaneously. Within six months, Liberty Hospital emergency physicians
moved from paper and white boards to Eclipsys’ industry-leading
computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system and electronic
documentation and charting solutions to improve the speed and quality of
placing both medication and non-medication patient orders.
Electronic Inpatient Physician Orders, Routine Patient Encounters
and Patient Admissions
Now Liberty Hospital’s inpatient physician orders, routine patient
encounters, as well as all patient admissions are carried out
electronically by emergency nurses and physicians. Evidence-based order
sets used with the CPOE system are promoting standardization of patient
care decisions in the ED, while inpatient and referral physicians are
receiving more legible chart information in support of better continuity
of care. In addition, the activation of Eclipsys’ integrated pharmacy
information system, Sunrise Pharmacy™, is supporting improved patient
safety by providing an electronic medication administration record.
"When we embarked upon the Eclipsys technology initiative, we selected
the emergency department as a good place to incubate and showcase the
benefits of physician adoption of CPOE and clinical documentation,” said
Dr. Brian Robb, Emergency Department Medical Director, Liberty Hospital.
"Our approach was from a physician’s angle. Most of our inpatient
traffic comes through our emergency room, so now our inpatient
physicians already have experienced the benefits of the technology and
how it supports delivering more patient-centered care. The high level of
success we’ve achieved to date positions us well to take the next step
toward activation of inpatient use of CPOE.”
The rollout of Eclipsys’ technologies within Liberty Hospital’s acute
care settings is ongoing. The incremental use of enabling technologies
is supporting the regional medical center in a steady progression
towards achieving the expected "meaningful use” requirements of The
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.
Improved Documentation; More Patient-Centered Care
"According to the nurses in our department, the Sunrise applications
have significantly improved the documentation of patient care,” said
Cheryl Phillips, RN, CEN, Emergency Department Director, Liberty
Hospital. "Our nurses believe the documentation is much more complete
because they now have cues to help them remember. Anecdotally, a
community physician thought one of our new charts he received had been
dictated because it was so complete. He could read everything that had
been done to the patient and he even knew what the emergency physician
had considered in the care of his patient.”
"Liberty Hospital is taking a focused, deliberate approach to providing
its clinical staff with solutions that can improve the speed and quality
of care decisions while positioning the organization to fully benefit
from the financial incentives of ARRA,” said Jay Deady, Eclipsys’
executive vice president, Client Solutions. "We are pleased the initial
technology rollout has been so successful and look forward to working
closely with Liberty Hospital’s executive team, physicians and nurses as
they endeavor to fully implement their vision for more patient-centered
care.”
About Liberty Hospital
Liberty Hospital is a 250-bed regional medical center serving Clay and
Platte counties as well as the northwest Missouri corridor. Founded in
1974, Liberty Hospital is a public, non-profit hospital, created for the
benefit of its community as a political subdivision district hospital
under Chapter 206 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. It is governed by
a six-member, publicly elected board of trustees who serve six-year
terms. More than 1,600 employees and 350 physicians deliver
compassionate, exceptional care using the latest technology and provide
a full range of services. For more information, visit www.libertyhospital.org
or call 816-781-7200.
About Eclipsys
Eclipsys is a leading provider of advanced integrated clinical, revenue
cycle and performance management software, clinical content and
professional services that help healthcare organizations improve
clinical, financial and operational outcomes. For more information, see www.eclipsys.com
or email info@eclipsys.com.
Statements in this news release concerning the timing of implementation
and features and benefits provided by Eclipsys software, ARRA
qualification, evidence-based content and implementation services are
forward-looking statements and actual results may differ from those
projected due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Implementation
and customization of Eclipsys software is complex and time-consuming.
Results depend upon a variety of factors and can vary by client. Each
client’s circumstances are unique and may include unforeseen issues that
make it more difficult than anticipated to implement or derive benefit
from Eclipsys software or services. The success and timeliness of the
company’s services will depend at least in part upon client involvement,
which can be difficult to control. Eclipsys is required to meet
specified performance standards, and the contract can be terminated or
its scope reduced under certain circumstances. ARRA qualification
requires compliance with standards that are still evolving, and
satisfaction of those standards may be delayed. More information about
company risks is available in recent Form 10-Q and 10-K filings made by
Eclipsys from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Special attention is directed to the portions of those documents
entitled "Risk Factors” and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Eclipsys Corporation and
The Outcomes Company are registered trademarks of Eclipsys Corporation.
Sunrise Enterprise and Sunrise Pharmacy are trademarks of Eclipsys
Corporation. Other product and company names in this news release are
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.