In South Jersey, Virtua Hospitals Recognized for Rapid Adoption of EMRs

All four Virtua acute care hospitals–Voorhees, Memorial, Marlton and Berlin–have achieved the Stage 6 designation of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics Electronic Records Adoption Model, the hospital system announced. 

Being certified at Stage 6 is very prestigious for a hospital system and shows that it is far along in its evolution towards adopting Electronic Medical Records (EMR).

Virtua credits patient care teams who worked hard to implement EMR. Tom Gordon, CIO, said that Virtua is now automating data collection of vital signs and sending that information to digital patient records. Physicians at all the locations are entering clinical orders electronically, reducing misunderstandings, increasing efficiency and patient safety.

Virtua says it uses a “closed loop” mediation administration process using an electronic prescribing and barcode checking process to make sure patients get the correct meds. That information travels with patients through the healthcare system and also notifies providers of any drug interactions or allergies.