On August 4th at 4:30am, Cooper University Hospital reached a significant milestone in the journey of maturing the Electronic Health Record (Epic) by taking a giant step toward the goal of a paperless record. I’m pleased to report that all Physician Documentation within the hospital is now being done with the EHR, placing Cooper in the forefront of a paperless record not only within the Delaware Valley, but the entire nation. Our EHR is not only 100% Computerized Physician Order Entry, but is now electronic with Nursing, Hospital Support Department, and Physician documentation. Additionally, through integration of Biomedical Devices, portions of the record are automatically populated in real-time. This will have a very positive impact to patient safety, and clinical analytics over time.
While no milestone is reached without the support of all, I would like to recognize the physician leadership of Snehal Gandhi, MD, Director of Informatics; along with the Informatics Division team of Michael Kirchhoff, MD, Director of Emergency Services and Minh Huynh, MD Physician Ambulatory Champion. Additionally, if the success or failure could be reduced to a single person, that would be Theresa Maerten, RN, Sr. Clinical Analyst who has worked tirelessly under the direction of Emma Brandon, RNC, BSN, Director of Clinical Applications to insure the success of all phases of the Advanced Clinical Documentation have been a success.
Kudos to the entire Clinical Applications Team, and all of the Information Technology department that has worked diligently to meet this organizational goal with minimal interruption to patient throughput. I want to thank everyone in their support of the Electronic Health Record, especially the clinicians who have adopted welcomingly to the system, which promotes Cooper as the leader in Healthcare.
JOHN P. SHERIDAN, JR.
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Cooper Health System