On May 30, 2015, BWHC went live with Partners eCare. The transition to the new system presented many difficulties for the BWH community to overcome, especially in the first several months. This month, as we approach the first anniversary of eCare’s launch, we’ve asked BWHers to share both the successes and challenges of adopting eCare and their hopes for the future. If you would like to share your experiences, please use our comments feature to submit your response.

“The Epic transition certainly came with its share of hurdles. But throughout the past year, it’s become an efficient tool for delivering high quality care to our patients. I am looking forward to its ongoing development and potential to increase patient safety and for the opportunity to learn more about our individual practice patterns.”

-David Rubins, MD, Department of Medicine

“Coming from an academic medical center with Epic, I was VERY excited for the launch of eCare at Partners! I feel many of the successes with eCare come from the integration of the disparate clinical applications previously used to care for our patients. That said, some of our biggest challenges also come from this integration in the form of new workflows, data overload and further educational/training needs. In time, I believe much of this will improve, and it will be difficult to remember a time before eCare.”

-Rajesh Patel, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine

“Having the electronic tools at researchers’ fingertips to query specific patient populations and define diseases and study outcomes is really tremendous. Using electronic medical record (EMR) data in conjunction with bioinformatics techniques has proven indispensable in my studies of rheumatoid arthritis. By data mining eCare’s records, we have been able to produce phenotype algorithms for defining RA cases and controls, RA disease activity, and adverse effects of RA drugs for genomics and outcomes research.”

– Elizabeth Karlson, MD, Department of Medicine

“As a researcher, I was very pleased to find how well the Epic system allowed us to integrate our research studies as a part of the patient’s medical record. This not only allows better and more accurate research practices, but also has the added benefit of allowing patient providers the ability to see what studies their patients are or have been involved with.”

– Patrick Dempsey, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care

“While making a change to a new electronic health record has had its challenges, I remember my first week when PeC went live and I admitted a patient from Faulkner Hospital. I was able to open up their chart and read along as I received the report. Later on, when I had a question about a medication they received, I was able to instantly find the answer in the MAR.  I was a believer then and there.”

– John Solman, RN, Department of Nursing Services

We are asking the BWH clinical and research communities to share their eCare experiences with us for CRN and for our sister publication, BWH Bulletin. If you have an experience to share, please submit a few sentences using the form below or email bwhbulletin@partners.org. Be sure to look for additional coverage of the first anniversary of eCare at BWHC in the June 10 issue of BWH Bulletin.