Ardent Selects Epic For All Of Its Hospitals & Clinics

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardent Health Services has selected Epic, the industry's leading provider of electronic health record software, to unite all Ardent hospitals and clinics under a single information-sharing platform.

The move provides Ardent's caregivers with a single, stronger patient information system that will help streamline their work. In doing so, it will afford caregivers more time at the bedside to offer consistent, high quality health services and a better patient experience for the people they serve.

"This investment is a significant step in our journey to deliver high-quality clinical care and exceptional customer service more efficiently," said David T. Vandewater, president and CEO of Ardent Health Services. "With Epic, we will improve our clinical quality and patient outcomes. We will enhance our work environments for our physicians, nurses and staff, and we will provide our patients and their families with increased convenience through one medical record and a single bill for all of our services."

Ardent chose Epic after one of the most thorough evaluation periods in the software company's history. Nearly 500 Ardent team members, including physicians, bedside nurses, registration and discharge staff representing each part of the care continuum and all specialties participated in the demonstrations and assessment.

"We are very pleased to have Ardent join the Epic family after rigorous evaluations of functionality, total cost of ownership and long-term value," said Carl Dvorak, president, Epic. "Ardent is a well-respected and innovative organization and we look forward to partnering with their clinicians and leadership in transforming care to provide superior outcomes for patients in the markets they serve."

Ardent will replace 80 information systems currently in use across its facilities with the single Epic platform, increasing efficiencies by streamlining services such as registration, billing, clinical applications, ehealth and population health initiatives. It will also join a growing Epic community, which includes many of the nation's leading health systems, in the exchange of data, best practices and innovation.

Once implemented, Ardent will become the first investor-owned hospital company to utilize Epic throughout the entire organization, which includes BSA Health System in Amarillo, Texas; Hillcrest HealthCare System in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Lovelace Health System, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Representatives from Epic will begin working alongside Ardent employees this summer to build the software system, a process that typically takes nine to 10 months. The first Ardent health system would transition to Epic in the fall of 2017 and the others would follow each quarter.

Founded in 1979, today Epic consists of 385 highly respected healthcare organizations that cover 33,500 clinics, 1,600 hospitals, 1,700 retail clinics and more than 33,000 physicians. Its software is used in community hospitals, academic medical centers, children's organizations, retail clinics, multi-specialty groups, integrated delivery networks, rehab centers, skilled nursing, independent practices and more.

Epic's MyChart software, which Ardent will adopt, allows patients to find personal and family health information at their fingertips. Patients will be able to message doctors, attend e-visits, complete questionnaires, schedule appointments and be more involved in managing their health.

Ardent Health Services invests in quality health care. In people, technology, facilities and communities, Ardent makes considerable investments, producing high-quality care and extraordinary results. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent's subsidiaries own and operate acute care health systems in three service areas – Amarillo, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Albuquerque, New Mexico – that include 14 hospitals and three multi-specialty physician groups. For more information, go to www.ardenthealth.com.

Contact: Tyra Palmer
(615) 296-3146
[email protected]

SOURCE Ardent Health Services

Related Links

http://www.ardenthealth.com