Have an eMergency? Shands Going Paperless | News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Doctors have notoriously bad hand writing, but Shands Jacksonville is taking that out of the equation.  The hospital began moving to an electronic chart system on January 21 and those in charge of the switch said they have already become about 90 percent paperless.   

"So if you want to go and figure out what Mrs. Jones' intake was two weeks ago, it would have taken a lot of paperwork, a lot of shifting through different pieces of paper," explained Dr. Joseph Tepas.  "Now, everything is literally a click away."   

The new system, named Epic, puts all of a patient's information into a computer network, rather than into the large, 3-ring binders that doctors have used at the hospital for decades.   

Dr. Tepas said the new system will not only make it easier for nurses to read and understand doctors' orders, but it will also save money.  Even though switching to Epic is a multi-million dollar project, Tepas explained that it will cut down on personnel running repeat tests on a patient, because their records will be much easier to search.   

Doctors will also be able to spot patterns in a patient's chart more easily.  Dr. Tepas said as more and more hospitals move to electronic charts, the medical community will be better able to track health trends and diseases all over the world.   

"What medical care will be like when your grandchildren are here-it's going to continue to improve and this is a major tool to help us get there," he explained.  

First For You  

Several hospitals on the First Coast are moving to electronic charts for their patients.   

Mayo Clinic-According to External Communications Manager Kevin Punsky, Mayo uses Cerner electronic charts in their hospital and outpatient clinic, as well as their beaches and St. Augustine locations.   

Baptist Health-The Baptist Health System is set to go completely electronic in February, according to Cindy Hamilton, Director of Public Relations.  Both Wolfson's Children's Hospital and Baptist's downtown location will switch to electronic patient charts at the end of next month through a program called SHIELD.  Currently, their Baptist South location is fully electronic.   

Memorial Hospital-Memorial Hospital is partially electronic and is in the process of going to completely electronic.  Right now, doctors in the emergency room use only e-records under a system called Meditech, but in other parts of the hospital data entry and some doctor notes are still on paper, according to Senior Media & Communications Coordinator, Adam Landau.