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LAKIN, WV -
Lakin Hospital, a long-term nursing facility operated by the
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, has adopted an open source electronic health record.
The implementation is part of an ongoing project that will unite all of West Virginia's state-run healthcare facilities through a contiguous electronic repository of patient information.
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The Medsphere Systems Corp., based in Aliso Viejo, Calif. , won a contract to install its OpenVista EHR at Lakin Hospital. The facility, located in the northwest part of the state, provides geriatric care to West Virginia residents with long-term behavioral or developmental needs.
The 114-bed center is one of seven West Virginia DHHR-operated healthcare facilities to be connected via the OpenVista platform.
Four of the facilities - Welch Community Hospital, William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital, Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital and Hopemont Hospital - are already implemented and communicating.
Pinecrest Hospital and the John Manchin Sr. Healthcare Center, the two remaining facilities in the program, will be connected by the end of May.
"Shifting from a paper-based records system to its electronic equivalent is a significant step for us," said Melissa Wamsley, CEO of Lakin Hospital."Medsphere has worked closely with our people, from the early design and development process through the training phase and implementation.
The end result is a system that is being accepted by our staff with minimal concerns."
OpenVista is a commercialized version of the VistA EHR system created by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Configured to meet the needs of non-VA institutions, OpenVista is offered through a subscription-based pricing model that company representatives say eliminates prohibitive up-front costs for hospitals.
"The DHHR electronic health records initiative includes both a clinical package for patient care and an operations component," said Jerry Luck, project manager for West Virginia DHHR.
"Without OpenVista, our developers would have had to build an integrated solution incorporating billing, administrative and revenue management."
Once the installation is complete at its seven acute, psychiatric and long-term care facilities, West Virginia DHHR will evaluate integrating its EHR system with various community health centers and clinics.
"Medsphere's project with the state of West Virginia is serving as a blueprint not only for our company, but also for integrated and multi-site health information technology initiatives across the country," said Medsphere CEO Michael J. Doyle."With the drive for electronic medical records gaining steam at both the federal and state level, West Virginia's program helps pave the way for vastly improved health records management."
As part of the rollout, Medsphere is coordinating the integration of OpenVista with Keane Inc.'s Patcom revenue cycle management system and VistaKEANE Resident Account Management software.
Medsphere is the primary contractor in the implementation.
