Graham Healthcare System

Replacing an EDIS for Improved Efficiency and Financial Health

Canton, Ill.-based Graham Healthcare System (GHS) faced a challenge common to many healthcare organizations across the country: it sought to bring its emergency department (ED) into the digital age, but it couldn’t receive the benefits of automation because the ED physicians declined to use the system. GHS needed a solution that would gain acceptance among physicians and improve the quality and accuracy of patient documentation and care delivery.

The GHS ED, which treats 17,000 patients annually, selected and deployed T SystemEV in conjunction with its current enterprise-wide Six Sigma business improvement process. Clinicians reported that T SystemEV was significantly easier to learn and use, gaining quick acceptance from the ED staff.

GHS also observed significant improvements in the quality and efficiency of care. Improved charge capture data and documentation increased ED billing and revenue by more than 35 percent. Door-to-doctor time decreased 71 percent, from 56 minutes to 16 minutes. The average length of stay decreased 56 percent, from four hours to one hour and 45 minutes, thus increasing patient satisfaction. The number of patients who left without being seen decreased by 75 percent.

After T SystemEV was implemented, registration, triage and, at times, the primary assessment, were done at the bedside. Moreover, Six Sigma, augmented by T SystemEV, helped increase up to 80 percent of patient cases whose wait times were less than 45 minutes to be admitted. Previously, only 43 percent of patients were admitted that rapidly.

T SystemEV improved transitions to ambulatory care by transmitting interoperable ED data faster to doctors. It also improved patient safety because physicians can now enter their own orders, the orders are always legible, and drug interaction and allergy prompts help prevent prescribing errors. In addition, the GHS ED customized the system to make optimal use of its alerts and altered the hospital workflow to take advantage of the T SystemEV interface so that patients could be admitted faster.

“An appropriately designed ED information system with easy usability can improve efficiency, quality and safety in EDs,” said John Quinones, DO, Emergency Services Medical Director. “EDs should not wait any longer to install these systems because those that do are missing many opportunities.”