New computer system at Swedish Ballard

Posted by Geeky Swedes on April 28th, 2008

Staff members at Swedish Ballard are dealing with a new and improved computer system today. Signs outside registration desks ask patients to be a little more… well, patient, over the next few days. As with any new system, there are a few minor glitches like screens freezing up and having to re-boot computers (we were there today and experienced it firsthand). One nurse told us that everyone is “a little edgy” today as they try to work out the kinks.

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Ballard Bigler

EPIC is a robust electronic record system, currently in use (actually since 1999) at the UW Physicians Network Clinics, including Hall Health Primary Care Center, and at Group Health Cooperative for the past 5 years. Swedish on 1st hill rolled it out recently as well, as noted. Rumor is that the UW outpatient clinics might start using it as well.

EMRs are the way to go...now if we could just get a national single payor system, in which ALL these disparate systems were linked together--think of the money to be saved and the mistakes that could be avoided!

Peter

All SMC campuses are in the middle of a system-wide conversion from multiple, separate vendor solutions to a single Electronic Medical Record supplied by Epic. Expect problems to continue to occur for the next couple of months, until everyone on rotation has had a couple of weeks to kick the tires. On the plus side, if you're seen at the Ballard campus and need to go up to 1st hill for any reason, you won't have to give them all your information twice. That's the theory anyway.