Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Woodlawn Health DocTalk, the podcast that brings you insights to make informed health decisions for you and your family. I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. In today's episode, we are joined by two dedicated members from Woodlawn Hospital. Keri Pulley is a Nurse Practitioner and Sarah Schultz is a Project Manager in the EPIC implementation team.

Our topic today is making electronic medical records work for you. And we'll explore how you can make the most of electronic medical records or EMRs during your healthcare visits.

Now, Sarah, I'll begin with you today. What is the first step in making sure that you are using the electronic medical records or EMRs to your advantage?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: As patients, there are often electronic tools that are available. Often this includes a patient portal. So, I would say be ready to register for a patient portal and to share your notification preferences that might be available, such as for text or email. Sometimes those are appointment reminders. Sometimes they can provide information after an appointment or after a hospitalization. But the patient portal is really a powerful tool to be able to exchange information with your care team and also to have information after a clinic visit or a hospitalization. At Woodlawn Health we'll always respect and honor your preferences.

But if you're open to sharing your email and to registering for the patient portal, then that would be a great tool to make sure that patients are ready for the electronic medical record.

Host: Absolutely. And Keri, what will one system like this help you do in the future?

Keri Pulley, FNP-C: I think it's going to streamline our care and our ability to coordinate care with different providers, even in different facilities. And I think it will give us a better chance to grow in the future and just continue to provide great care.

Host: Wonderful. And how can you be an informed consumer of healthcare with this new EMR system, Sarah?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: In Rochester, we should be keeping our eyes and ears open for communications coming from Woodlawn Health. So that could be in a variety of methods around not only inside the clinics and hospital, but also around the community as well. And also, don't hesitate to ask questions. So, if you're wondering when something is coming or how something might affect you, just don't hesitate to ask anyone at Woodlawn Health.

Host: Great, and I'll stick with you, Sarah, for this next one. Are there any new features of the system that you want to point out that will help patients?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: Yeah, in particular, that patient portal, which is called the MyChart patient portal, is a really powerful tool for patients. And it is the main way that will provide a way to interact with that new EMR and with care teams. So after a clinic visit or hospitalization, information is automatically shared for patients who have registered for that portal and agreed to receive information in that way, automatically shared with them so that they can see if there's any follow up instructions, or, lifting restrictions, for example, from their provider, diet advice, et cetera. Anything that they might need to reference after that clinic visit or hospitalization. In addition, new information can be shared. Reminders for appointments or new information that might be coming from Woodlawn Health is accessible through that MyChart patient portal. So, sign up early.

Host: And Keri, from the provider side, how can patients use this to have informed and educational conversations during their appointments?

Keri Pulley, FNP-C: I think as Sarah said, the patient portal is going to be I think very valuable to patients. They can review lab work, prepare questions ahead of time. They can look and they might see a diagnosis on their portal that they don't understand or didn't remember. They can review their medications, write down questions or, you know, maybe say, do I need to still be taking this?

Or why am I taking this? And we'll have it all together easily for them to see and also we'll be able to communicate more on the go and I think that's good moving forward in today's society. I think everybody is very busy and it will be nice to be able to communicate quickly through that patient portal, and also, kind of along the lines, Sarah said, you know, we can provide educational material that maybe we forgot to give during an appointment, or we wanted to give additional information. We can share information back and forth that way.

Host: Absolutely. And if someone is having issues with the new system, maybe just navigating the portal, Sarah, what resources will be available to help them?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: We're planning lots of training for all of our care teams, Caitlin. And we'll also have additional support site in our clinics and in the hospital setting at the time that we make this change and that is because it, it is a huge change. There's a lot of complex factors, not just with a new computer system, but with the human processes that support that.

So we're both developing the resource teams within our own staff and then also planning for that supplemental additional resources for a time period. So just definitely don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions or if you need help. I know that there will be someone around who will be able to answer your question or get you to that right person who can.

Host: And lastly, Sarah, what are some things to keep in mind during this transition?

Sarah Shultz, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CPDHTS: I would say even the best changes can be an adjustment for all of us. Our patients and our care teams will be learning about this new system. And as I said, about the processes, the human steps that are needed to support that new system together. So we definitely appreciate your patience. There may be times where it seems like we're repeating questions.

Sometimes things might be need to be verified for the new system to make sure that we have the very best information to take care of you. Sometimes it might take a little longer to get that care task completed because of those changes and those adjustments. So we would just appreciate your patience and as always, Woodlawn Health is keeping a focus on the highest safety and quality care for our patients. We're very excited about this future together. 

Host: Thank you for joining us on Woodlawn Health DocTalk. 

Remember, making electronic medical records, or EMRs, work for you can enhance your healthcare experience significantly. If you want more information about the EMR changes at Woodlawn, ask one of your Woodlawn team members. 

And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more insightful discussions.