Penn Vet Implementing New EMR System: Project VISION |
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October 22, 2013, Volume 60, No. 10 |
A key vision of Penn Vet, as depicted by Dean Joan Hendricks, is to build a world-model Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system within both veterinary hospitals, Matthew J. Ryan and the New Bolton Center. After a few years conducting significant assessment of Penn Vet’s specific operational needs, along with a comprehensive review of EMRs available within the marketplace, an EMR partner was identified (CurePet). Thanks to a committed leadership and staff, budgeting efforts and generous donations, the herculean effort of an EMR implementation is finally underway.
An initial milestone related to the project was to name it. The EMR project team reached out to the Penn Vet community to request ideas for naming the EMR and received nearly 250 suggestions. The winning name was submitted by Dr. Lillian Aronson: VISION, standing for Veterinary Information System and Integrated Organizational Network.
The high-level goals of Project VISION are to:
• Support the clinical, research and teaching missions of Penn Vet
• Achieve clinical, administrative and financial effectiveness and efficiencies
• Provide a seamless view of hospital, client, patient, research and financial information that is user friendly, secure, expandable and accessible from anywhere
• Provide appropriate access for external parties (e.g., referring veterinarians, clients)
The multi-year implementation process is organized into two primary phases.
Phase I will enable the Penn Vet community’s ability to conduct patient care administration and management online and provide real time access to comprehensive medical records, reliable data and timely billing.
Phase II will enable seamless interfaces with other systems, as well as provide client and referring veterinarian portals.
The EMR project team of VISION consists of the following:
Executive Sponsor—Dean Joan Hendricks
Project Sponsors—Bo Connell (Ryan) and Corinne Sweeney (NBC)
Project Owners—Donna Oakley (Ryan), Rosemarie Richardson (NBC), Matthew Varghese (IT)
Program Manager—Stuart Benoff (ISC)
Software designer and implementers—CurePet ( www.curepet.com/ )
Change management, communication and training advisors and planning—MJC Consulting
In addition to the primary team described above, the Penn Vet community is critical and will be called on as needed for key insight, advice, EMR testing and training throughout the project. The success of VISION depends on the entire community’s support, understanding, excitement and willingness to adapt to the improvements the new system will bring to the school and hospitals.
Stay tuned for future articles about VISION’s progress.
—The VISION EMR Project Team
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