EDIMS Partners with Medit Corporation to Speed Access to Quality Emergency Care
Combination of EDIMS’ emergency department EHR and Medit’s MiRapidAccess kiosk and online PHR to decrease ED wait times and improve care delivery.
Livingston, NJ, May 13, 2010—EDIMS LLC, a leading provider of advanced emergency department (ED) information management systems, today announced it has formed a strategic relationship with Medit Corporation that will help EDIMS’ hospital clients speed triage and treatment of their ED patients. The combination of the EDIMS’ electronic medical record (EMR) system with Medit’s MiRapidAccess self-service registration kiosk, patient ID cards and MIICE online personal health records (PHRs) will enable EDIMS’ hospital clients to streamline the registration process, provide clinicians with current and accurate patient information, and treat patients as quickly as possible.
“One of the greatest challenges in an emergency department – for patients and staff alike – is the amount of time it can take to register and triage people to ensure that the highest-risk patients are seen first,” said EDIMS’ CEO, Shane Hade. “MiRapidAccess streamlines the front-end registration process, improving patient throughput and satisfaction while contributing to more positive outcomes and continuity of care.”
Unlike other patient ID cards that carry only static – and sometimes outdated – data, Medit’s hospital-branded card provides online access to the patient’s latest PHR information, which includes demographics, conditions, medications, allergies, emergency contacts, advanced directives, physician information and more.
“Whatever the patient has chosen to include as part of his or her personal health record is immediately accessible when the card is used,” said Carl Jarvis, Medit president and CEO. “No other kiosk has this real-time, online access, which we believe is critical to providing caregivers with the information they need to best care for their patients in the fast-paced environment of the emergency department.”
When registering using the kiosk at the ED, patients simply swipe their patient ID card, verify their key information and answer a few simple questions regarding their current complaint. Their information is immediately sent to EDIMS EHR to help nurses prioritize and begin patient care.
Patients can also opt to wear a medical wristband containing a personal emergency access number that gives first responders immediate access to the patient’s MIICE PHR – online or through any phone. This provides patients the ability to share emergency information with EMTs and other first responders prior to arriving at the hospital. This is especially important for critically ill or injured patients who are transported to the hospital by ambulance and who cannot self register, because it provides ED clinicians with access to a patient’s medical history.
In addition to speeding registration and care delivery, the combination of MiRapidAccess, MIICE, and the EDIMS system effectively deals with two other patient-satisfaction concerns – privacy and having to repeat basic information multiple times.
“Patients and family members don’t want their personal information overheard in a busy registration area,” Hade said. “And with HIPAA federal regulations governing patient confidentiality, hospitals are more concerned than ever in respecting that privacy. Also, patients having to repeat – and staff having to retype – information multiple times during the course of treatment not only makes it more likely that the information will be overheard, it annoys patients – and can lead to a greater potential for avoidable errors. The integration of MiRapidAccess information with the EDIMS EHR positively impacts all of these issues, contributing to greater patient satisfaction as well as improved staff productivity.”
The patient ID cards will be made available by participating EDIMS’ hospitals at no charge to patients. Hospitals may choose to make them available through their affiliated physicians, at the ED registration desk, or when the patient uses the MiRapidAccess kiosk for the first time.
“Offering the cards through their physicians certainly provides yet another way the hospital can more closely align with primary care physicians to deliver connected care across the community,” Hade noted. “It also gives patients another convenient way to access the service.”
Hade concluded, “We’re pleased to be partnering with Medit. The move enables our clients to further leverage their EDIMS investment to support high-quality, safe, efficient emergency care. The two solutions are a powerful combination.”
About EDIMS LLC
For over 20 years, EDIMS LLC has been delivering enhanced ED operations through its interoperable ED information management systems. Its electronic health record (EHR) solutions, designed to support clinicians’ workflow and provide clinical decision support, are being used at 40 hospitals and long-term care facilities nationwide. EDIMS ability to provide comprehensive order entry, real-time charge capture, and to fully document ED patient encounters helps EDs improve reimbursement and enhance patient care while reducing the amount of time and effort involved in documentation and billing. For more information, visit http://www.EDIMS.net.
About Medit Corporation
Medit Corporation is the developer of MiRapidAccess™, an emergency department-based rapid access kiosk that allows patients to self-register, while offering healthcare professionals fast, convenient access to a Web-based medical information database simply by using an emergency access number printed on a patient’s wristband or hospital-branded wallet card. Based on a subscription-based personal health record (PHR) program called MIICE “Medical Information In Case of Emergency”, which offers patients emergency access to personal and medical information, MiRapidAccess helps healthcare facilities streamline registration, improve nurse triage, reduce patient waiting times, and minimize medical and information errors. For more information, visit http://www.miice.com.