The Hospital of Central Connecticut has begun a project, termed ONE, which aims to collectively unify all elements of patients' care providers, data, varied departments by converting patients' written records to electronic health records and making other changes involving technology.
The project references ONE patient, ONE record, ONE care team and aims to enhance patient care quality, safety and efficiency and improve patient outcomes by facilitating information sharing; and making this information accessible at the care point, whether it be the Emergency Department, a community physician's office or diagnostic lab.
It means for example, when a patient comes to the ED, staff can immediately access a patient's medical record online, search for their home medications from a national database, and include a copy of the emergency record in his electronic inbox. With that notification, the doctor's office can contact the patient to set up a follow-up appointment. After a few medical tests, the patient can log into a secure patient portal and review test results, with ability to securely email the physician with any questions.
ONE will span a considerable amount of time for development and implementation, being done in phases. For more information, please contact Jeff Finkelstein, M.D., chief medical information officer, at jfinkelstein@thocc.org.