UNC Health Care launches next wave of its Web-based Clinical Information System with direct e-prescribing capability

UNC Health Care launches next wave of its Web-based Clinical Information System
with direct e-prescribing capability

UNC physicians can access system anytime and anywhere; Send patient prescriptions to retail pharmacies across United States

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of North Carolina Health Care System recently unveiled a new direct e-prescribing function in its Web-based clinical information system, WebCIS, after a four-month pilot testing period. UNC Health Care is the first medical center in the Southeast to implement e-prescribing from electronic medical records – directly from large group medical practices to retail pharmacies across the United States.

Physicians can view a patient’s complete drug profile; his/her allergies and past drug reactions and receive automated updates to prescription lists. With the new direct e-prescribing capability, physicians can change medications and order refills, while immediately receiving confirmation from the patient’s preferred pharmacy. By the time a patient leaves the office, his/her prescription has already been sent to the pharmacy and will be ready upon arrival. The extensive pharmacy network ensures that patients in need of prescriptions while outside of North Carolina can benefit from the convenience of this service.

UNC Health Care System CEO Dr William L. Roper says WebCIS and its ground-breaking functionality further elevates the quality of care throughout the UNC system. “This system promotes efficiency, reduces errors and enables UNC Health Care to remain on the forefront of providing seamless patient care,” Roper said.

WebCIS was developed in-house at UNC with ongoing physician and staff input on design and function. The application has been 100 percent Web-based since 2001, allowing staff access anytime from anywhere. The system is fully secured ensuring compliance with patient privacy laws and regulations.

Since 1992, care for all patients in the UNC Health Care System has been managed with the use of a detailed electronic medical record.  These private, individual records integrate patient care information in both hospital and clinical settings, and encompass extensive patient histories, drug treatments and protocols for effective disease management. WebCIS completely integrates in and out-patient care, which no commercial products currently available can do.

According to the architect of WebCIS, Dr. Robert Berger, professor of medicine and director of medical informatics, “UNC Health Care has had computerized provider order entry (CPOE) for a while in both in and out-patient care settings. We are in the middle of integrating our commercially bought CPOE system with WebCIS. Our outpatient services and emergency rooms are completely paperless and our inpatient services are in the final stages of going paperless after our planned installation of an electronic nursing documentation system.”

WebCIS is also linked to a centralized scheduling system and when physicians log in, they are immediately alerted to the availability of lab results and messages which appear in their activity in-box. In the Outpatient Clinics, nurses input patient vitals and physicians input diagnoses directly into the system, allowing everyone to track and monitor a patient’s history. Nine thousand users from UNC School of Medicine, UNC Hospitals and affiliates access WebCIS on a daily basis.

Dr. Don Spencer, professor and director of the UNC Family Practice Center, participated in the pilot testing of direct e-prescribing. Since the Family Practice Center is wireless, he carries his laptop or tablet with him during patient visits. It allows him to review and update the patients’ histories, input his diagnoses, review lab results and x-rays with the patient, make notes and send prescriptions directly to pharmacies – all in a matter of minutes.

Dr. Spencer remarks, “I don’t put my laptop down when I start clinic, it travels with me and allows me access everywhere.” He adds, “Direct e-prescribing has great advantages for patients. They don’t have to sit around and wait for their medicine. It’s ready and waiting when they get to their pharmacy. It saves me time as well, because if I’m on the phone with a patient and we decide to change the level or type of their medication, I can send the prescription to the pharmacist quicker than I can type a note to my nurse to do so.”

UNC Health Care has plans to roll out additional phased updates to WebCIS. UNC is currently investigating a function allowing pharmacists to send electronic messages to physicians requesting prescriptions or refill orders for patients. The scheduling system is also slated for additions. Implementing an open scheduling system would enable patients to self-schedule through the Web for participating practices and doctors could self-schedule for consultations rather than going through another physician’s staff.  For more information about WebCIS and direct e-prescribing, to schedule interviews, or to receive a demonstration of the system, contact Stephanie Crayton at (919) 966-2860.

ABOUT UNC HEALTH CARE
The UNC Health Care System is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and to provide state-of-the-art patient care. UNC Health Care is comprised of UNC Hospitals, ranked consistently among the best medical centers in the country; the UNC School of Medicine, a nationally eminent research institution; community practices; home health and hospice services in seven central North Carolina counties; and Rex Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County. For more information, please visit http://www.unchealthcare.org.
Media contact: Stephanie Crayton, (919) 966.2860, SCrayton@unch.unc.edu