by
Thomas Dworetzky, Contributing Reporter | July 19, 2017
Mayo Clinic has started the massive $1.5 billion project to integrate all its electronic health record and billing systems with the implementation of Epic at its Mayo Clinic Health System sites in Wisconsin.
“Having an integrated electronic health record across all of our sites can help us with our core mission of meeting patient needs,” said Dr. Steve Peters, chief medical information officer, Mayo Clinic. “It’s taking the best practices of Mayo Clinic to benefit all patients at all sites – converging on a common set of tools and bringing the best of Mayo Clinic to each patient’s care.”
Mayo sites in Minnesota are slated to go live in November, after which its main Rochester campus will follow in May 2018, according to a clinic statement. Its campuses in Arizona and Florida are scheduled for conversion in October 2018, at which point “Epic will replace the three electronic health record systems that Mayo Clinic uses today, becoming the foundation for operations for decades to come.”
The system was customized to “meet the specific needs of Mayo Clinic patients and staff,” according to the health care institution.
"For Mayo Clinic, this is absolutely a huge milestone. This is first implementation of us all being on a single electronic record system," Dr. Timothy Johnson, regional vice president for Mayo Clinic Health System
told the Post Bulletin. "While it is the historical record, it is also the workhorse. All of our workflows center around the movement of information, whether it's a prescription or ordering a lab or getting a result back to the right person.”
The project was called “the Plummer Project,” as it “builds on the legacy of Dr. Henry Plummer, who “created the world’s first patient-centered health record at Mayo Clinic more than a century ago,” according to the clinic.
“This project builds on the health care innovations and teamwork that have enabled Mayo Clinic to improve and save lives unlike anywhere else,” says Christopher Ross, chief information officer, Mayo Clinic. “By applying the world’s most forward-thinking technology and processes to our electronic health records and collaborative care systems, our experts will be even more connected in delivering the high-value care, research and education that Mayo is known for and patients deserve.”
