Physicians now have more immediate access to electrocardiogram imaging studies in patient electronic medical records.
By immediately capturing EKG tracing in the cardiovascular EMR solution, PowerChart, Meritas Health Cardiology physicians view the studies and add their interpretations online. The previous manual process of printing, delivering, reading, transcribing and uploading non-STAT EKG reports could take 12-24 hours.
“Before, we could have as many as 120 paper EKGs to read and for staff to type and upload to the EMRs,” said Steven K. Starr, MD, FACC, a cardiologist with Meritas Health Cardiology.
“Now, right after my partners or I review and interpret an EKG in PowerChart, it is instantaneously available for referring physicians to access in the patient’s EMR.
“This allows us to provide better care because we can turn the test results over to referring physicians more quickly, which is vital for patients experiencing a heart attack, an arrhythmia or another cardiac event.”
Physicians with access to NKCH’s EMR solution through Cerner can review full-color EKGs and accompanying detailed reports via multiple access points in PowerChart:
- Physician Workflow Page under Diagnostics: Recommended because it contains the reports and EKG strips
- Cardiovascular tab in Results Review
- Cardiac folder in Reports and Documents: Reports only
“I used to read a stack of paper EKGs in one sitting, but now I can quickly catch up on them online a few times a day,” Dr. Starr said. He added time-critical EKGs are flagged as STAT for priority consideration.
Other functionality will added, including the ability for cardiologists to create stress and tilt table testing documentation for all providers to view.
Steven K. Starr, MD, FACC
Dr. Starr earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiovascular disease.