North Mississippi Health Services (NMHS), a private, not for profit hospital which serves 730,000 patients in 24 counties in north Mississippi and northwest Alabama, has selected Mercy Technology Services to help implement Epic ambulatory EHR platform across enterprise. As the nation’s first Epic-accredited provider, Mercy Technology Services will provide project leadership and proven methodology from more than 50 previous installations, Epic module expertise, revenue cycle support, training and go-live support.
After performing an extensive system selection, NMHS selected Epic’s ambulatory EHR platform due to its streamlined integration of primary, specialty and clinic care. After go-live, more than 800 employed and affiliated providers will be connected on a single EHR for better coordination of care throughout its clinically integrated network.
“It was time to replace multiple systems that caregivers had to bounce between, which was the cause of serious frustration and slowdown,” said Jim Weldon, NMHS’s chief information officer (CIO). “A new strategic tool like Epic can do so much to improve access to and help in the sharing of patient information, as well as support point of care decision making.”
“I’ve worked with many vendors and consultants in my day,” Weldon said. “With Mercy, the team has the capabilities and bench strength, but they have something others don’t; Mercy is a provider just like us. They run a health system, they engage physicians and they care for patients. Partnering with another provider organization with Mercy’s depth and success is really smart for us.”
NMHS also plans to extend Epic to regional providers in future phases of the project who are currently not on a shared electronic record. “This way, we’ll have everybody talking through one system to raise the bar on patient care,” said Weldon. “With a successful Epic project, it will only get better.”
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