Georgia-based Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center has gone live with its new Epic electronic health record, following a year and a half of prep work that including the training some 5,000 clinicians and hospital staffers for the switch.

The hospital enlisted the help of 130 volunteers from other Piedmont hospitals who were familiar with Epic's ins and outs, to provide "at-the-elbow support" for Piedmont Athens Regional, officials said.

In addition to the obvious appeal of an integrated patient record across the health system, the hospital said it was drawn to the Epic MyChart portal, enabling patients at Piedmont Athens Regional to gain secure access to their own health data, book appointments, refill prescriptions and more.  

More than half of all Georgia residents currently or will soon have a record in Epic when all planned installs are complete, Piedmont Athens officials noted, enabling better care coordination and reducing duplication.

"Doctors will now be able to pull up a patient’s medical history quickly and know about current medications, allergies and other essential patient information," said Charles Peck, MD, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Athens Regional. "Providers will have access to a patient’s full story, whether they were seen here at Piedmont Athens Regional, another Piedmont location, or even at other providers in Georgia or across the country, regardless of which system they use."

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