Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to another engaging episode of Woodlawn Health DocTalk, a go to resource for informed health decisions. Today, we are joined by Dr. Anthony Witt and Sarah Shultz to chat about the benefits and future of electronic medical records or EMR at Woodlawn.

Dr. Witt is a family practice physician specializing in OB care who cherishes building long term connections with his patients. He brings a wealth of experience and a deep appreciation for the small town health care environment at Woodlawn. And Sarah Shultz is our accomplished project manager in the Epic implementation division. With expertise in healthcare technology, Sarah is passionate about transforming patient care through EMR systems. Well, I'll start with you today, Dr. Witt. How does an EMR improve patient care and safety at health care facilities like Woodlawn Health?

Anthony Witt, M.D.: EMR allows for much more accurate and timely documentation for patient encounters, whether that be in person for an office visit or a procedure or, simply calling in to ask your provider or healthcare team a question. You know, all those phone encounters get documented, medication refill requests.

All that stuff gets documented, much more accurately and timely, with an EMR, which just leads to, not only more safety, but usually more timely responses as well, cause all of that stuff stays in queue and we know how, best to work through it, efficiently.

Host: Great. And Sarah, in what ways can an EMR enhance communication between patients and health care providers?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: EMRs can help with communication both when you're physically with your provider and when you're not. So when you're directly with your provider, EMRs can help with that communication because all of the relevant information is being brought together, allowing the clinician more time to focus on you and that interaction rather than searching for a lot of papers or different information from different sources.

So that's helpful when you're with your clinician. When you're not with your clinician, the EMR also opens up opportunities to have digital communication via a patient portal. So if you would provide your email address and, you know, be willing to have that type of exchange; I think that gives an opportunity to ask questions or provide information, with your clinician or their team.

Host: Well, how will the implementation then of a new EMR at Woodlawn Health streamline patient appointment scheduling and management, Dr. Witt?

Anthony Witt, M.D.: I think this is something that a lot of patients are going to get really excited about when they figure it out. Anytime there's a new EMR, there's so many different aspects. Not only from our side of things, but from a patient side that is going to be an adjustment, things to learn. We're going to continue to get the word out about online scheduling, and it's something that might not initially come out with our go live this summer, but something that we will be working on shortly after is the ability for patients to schedule online, which is so much more convenient, than having to call in, potentially wait on hold, find out there's not appointments available, a message has to go back to the provider, and then get back to the patient.

So it can really just streamline getting in to see your provider, especially for those acute issues that pop up, first thing in the morning when you wake up. And it will just allow a lot easier and quicker access for those acute needs.

Host: So how does the transition to a new EMR system, Sarah, impact the workflow for healthcare practitioners?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: The new EMR will bring together, clinical information from different sources. So regardless of whether a patient was seen in a clinic or had an outpatient lab drawn, for example, had an x-ray done at the hospital or was hospitalized, all that clinical information will be together. So as you can imagine, just bringing all that information together in one place will really improve the workflow and processes that you know, today requires a lot more steps to gather to be able to make clinical decisions and to be able to take care of each patient.

I will mention that initially, as with any change, there might be extra time that's needed to get that information together as we're transitioning from several systems into one system. So expecting kind of an initial hump of might take some time to adjust and get the information transitioned over, but, very shortly or eventually there afterward, expecting that that would bring a lot of efficiency for the clinical care.

Host: Thank you. Well, that brings me into my next question, which is for you, Dr. Witt. You know, you kind of mentioned this will be great once patients get the hang of it. So what are some challenges that healthcare providers might face when adopting a new EMR and how can they be overcome?

Anthony Witt, M.D.: Well, there's no doubt that getting a new EMR is a very stressful time period for the network and for providers both. Every single thing that we do in a day is interacting with our EMR. So, although the medicine is not going to change at all, how we prescribe that medication, how we document our interaction with patients, how we list a new allergy in the chart, every single thing that we have to do in a day will change.

So, this does not just happen overnight. there's a lot of training, many hours of training that the providers will have to go through before we start seeing patients with this new system in office. But it's never a completely smooth transition. So as Sarah touched on, expect that it's going to be maybe a little bit slower in those summer months as we're learning our new EMR. our schedules will be a little bit stricter to allow for more time with each patient as we learn the new EMR system.

 But with training and patience from our patients, it will help us all get through it, come out the other side, and as Sarah said, be much, much more efficient than we currently are.

Host: Absolutely. Well, from that patient perspective, Sarah, what will the benefits be with features such as patient portals or telehealth services integrated into EMRs?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: The patient portal with the EMR that Woodlawn is getting is very robust, and as I mentioned earlier, in order to gain access to that portal, patients would be providing their email address and agreeing to exchanging that information. It will be a new patient portal. So for anyone who's currently using a patient portal at Woodlawn, be expecting to be transitioning to the new EMR patient portal.

That patient portal will provide opportunity to connect with your provider and their health care team, to, eventually get to scheduling, paying bills, checking appointment days and times to refer back to. Also when clinical information is provided, such as after a, an office visit, or maybe educational material about a specific medication, then that information will always be available for the patient to refer back to rather than maybe a piece of paper that could be lost or discarded. So it's really helpful to be able to have that patient flow back and forth between the patient portal and the clinician team.

Host: And Dr. Witt, as we wrap up here, how do EMRs support interoperability between different healthcare systems, and why is that so important?

Anthony Witt, M.D.: Well, one of the most common things we encounter are patients going to another facility, for testing, whether it be lab work, imaging, they see a specialist from a different health system. And then trying to receive results of those tests and specialist appointments is honestly eats up a lot of our time.

And sometimes we never get it. Now, not all EMRs share information with one another, but the same EMR will share information with itself in other facilities. So, for instance, we're going to Epic, which is one of the largest EMRs available and used by several systems throughout the country.

So there's a lot of facilities that patients are currently going to that already use Epic. The MyChart portal that Sarah referenced, some patients are already used to it because they see specialists within those systems. So any procedures, any testing, any specialists that they see at any other facility that uses Epic, we're going to automatically be able to see that much faster.

And then Epic's very good about obtaining information from without from facilities that do not use Epic. So we're going to be able to follow our patients in other areas, and other health systems much more efficiently, which obviously will lead to better care in the long run.

Host: Great. And my last question is for you, Sarah. Can EMRs be used to enhance patient engagement and education? And if so, what are some examples?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: Sure. Yeah, I think EMRs can be a very successful tool for patient engagement and education. One way is being able to provide specific information related to upcoming appointments. So after a patient is seen in a clinic visit, for example, they will receive a visit summary and this can be available electronically as well as printed detailing their next scheduled appointment, if there's one already scheduled. Also, if there's any specific instructions that they should avoid lifting a certain amount of weight or anything like that, then those specific instructions will be provided. In addition to that, there can be supplemental clinical education provided very specific to a patient's medications or conditions or exercise plan or whatever the case might be that might be relevant, after a clinic visit or hospitalization.

Host: Thank you so much to both of you for your time and for doing the work that you do. For more information, ask your Woodlawn Health provider and watch the Health System social media for updates on our new system.

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