New Technology Allows Clinicians to See the Whole Picture

In today's fast-paced health care industry, being able to recall and review data at a moment's notice is crucial to staff in any intensive care unit. Pictured in an ICU at the Baltimore VA Medical Center are (left to right) registered nurses Jeffrey Sartori, Tyrone McCormick, Bernadette Briggs and Sally Kirtland, who have been champions of the new CareVue "Chart" Electronic Medical Record.

The VA Maryland Health Care System has become the first VA medical facility and one of a few private-sector health care systems in the nation to install, configure and use the completely redesigned Philips CareVue "Chart" Electronic Medical Record (EMR). This powerful computer application captures, displays and stores patient data from monitors, ventilators and other medical devices used to treat the patient at the bedside.

The CareVue "Chart" EMR allows doctors, nurses and other ancillary medical staff to immediately access Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patient clinical information so that they can evaluate and treat their condition as changes occur.

One of the major benefits of the system is that it enables physicians to recall patient information and review progress or decline and to benchmark trends.

"A well developed and powerful electronic medical record is a valuable tool in any health care setting, but in the dynamic environment of the ICU where many things can happen very quickly, the CareVue Chart's ability to capture, display and store patient information from various sources in real time makes it a very powerful tool," says Jeff Sartori BSN, RN, clinical applications coordinator and CareVue project manager.

In today's fast-paced and cost-conscious health care industry, a multi-disciplinary team approach is a necessity. The ability for numerous services and departments such as neurology, cardiology and otolaryngology to simultaneously access a patient's EMR allows for timely and quality care.

Using a well-designed and powerful EMR system allows the team to work together, but it also saves time and money. Clinicians do not have to backtrack through printed trails looking for labs, x-rays, EKG waveforms, evaluations and results because all information is stored in the electronic record, reports Sartori. But, he says, just as important is the time it gives back to nurses to perform direct patient care at the bed side instead of doing or redoing a patient's paperwork by hand.

The VA Maryland Health Care System has used the original version of CareVue known as "Classic" for the last 10 years. The redesigned CareVue "Chart" gives clinicians the ability to document more information concisely from many more sources. The added features and power of the CareVue "Chart" made the decision easy, not only to upgrade the system, but to expand it into all three of the health care system's ICUs.


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