Update: HIMSS20 has been canceled due to the coronavirus. Read more here.

At HIMSS20, EHR and health IT giant Meditech will be unveiling an extension of its Point of Care system for nurses and debuting its new Professional Services division. Michelle O’Connor, newly named president of the company, will be in attendance in Meditech’s booth, No. 1428.

Meditech’s Expanse Patient Care is an evolution of the vendor’s nursing and therapy solutions systems. The company is building on its established nursing and therapy systems as well as leveraging what it already has done for nursing workflows in its Ambulatory system and with Expanse Point of Care, which is its mobile system.

Streamlining nursing and therapy workflows

“Our Patient Care solution further enhances mobility, and streamlines nursing and therapy workflows while navigating care transitions and interactions with physicians across the continuum,” said Michelle O’Connor, president and COO of Meditech.

“Nurses and therapists see what physicians see in the chart – as they review patient information, during order placement and throughout the discharge process – while still maintaining the unique features necessary for their own care process with patients,” she continued. “This will elevate care team collaboration while always keeping the patient front and center.”

Additionally, Expanse Patient Care facilitates collaboration, communication and clarity between clinicians – and everyone has a unified user experience using familiar, modern tools, she added.

"There is significant collaborative review and discussion throughout the project, to ensure what we are providing addresses their unique needs."

Michelle O’Connor, Meditech

Nurse and therapist communities make up the largest of Meditech’s user groups. They are some of the most active technology users in healthcare, and they know that EHRs play an integral part in either helping or hindering patient care, O’Connor remarked.

“Meditech’s perspective is this: The EHR can either reduce the cognitive burden on nurses, or add to that burden,” she stated. “Expanse Patient Care boldly makes our case for reducing nurse and therapist burnout. Everything is available on modern mobile devices and is designed to smooth out communication with physicians, as well as other nurses and therapists.”

The mobility of the system also enables nurses and therapists to perform bedside medication verification and documentation from their smartphones – or the device of their choice – using a modern user interface. The company says this gives them more face-to-face time with their patients, which ultimately will improve both the clinician and the patient experience.

Professional Services division

On another front, Meditech will be formally detailing its new Professional Services division.

“The success of any EHR depends both on functionality and on how effectively the technology is deployed: The role of our Professional Services division is to help healthcare provider organizations to unlock Expanse’s full potential, both during and after their initial implementation,” O’Connor explained. “This includes project management services, but also value-added services, available at any time pre- or post-implementation.”

And since Meditech’s Professional Services division is staffed with senior-level experts who know the company and its technology inside and out, she added, it provides a true differentiator to organizations offering comparable services.

“Organizations often want to personalize content and workflow, and our customers may not always have the staff to devote to it,” she said. “That’s where Professional Services steps in. Whether building personalized physician documentation templates, deploying our evidence-based toolkits, connecting to regional HIEs, or tailoring analytics dashboards to support organizational improvement initiatives, our Professional Services team helps healthcare providers find added value in Expanse, without the heavy lift.”

Working with C-suite leaders

O’Connor says the effort is truly a collaborative one. C-suite leaders can explain what they want to achieve and Meditech’s experts will determine the best way to accomplish it.

“There is significant collaborative review and discussion throughout the project, to ensure what we are providing addresses their unique needs,” she said.

There are several trends the company’s Professional Services division addresses, and a lot depends on the specialty track within the division, but ultimately, it all ties back to improving the quality of care the patient receives, O’Connor remarked.

“For example, our evidence-based toolkits help providers to tackle some of today’s biggest healthcare risks, such as sepsis, diabetes and opioid abuse,” she said. “Our Interoperability Services help organizations meet a growing number of regulations such as TEFCA, Promoting Interoperability, and the 21st Century Cures Act.”

Physician advisory services address the growing issue of physician burnout by improving efficiency through optimization and personalization, she added. And analytics services round out these efforts by making the most of big data to drive improvement efforts, such as increasing reimbursement potential or measuring success with value-based care, she said.

“Our professional services provide our customers with the next step to success by helping them take advantage of the features and functions that are provided as part of our core EHR package and optimize their workflows to address industry trends,” she concluded.

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com
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