It’s an exhilarating time to be delivering health care at Adventist Health, where a state-of-the-art clinical information system is changing and improving the lives of both patients and staff.

So why all the hubbub? Dubbed Project IntelliCare, the new technology allows caregivers to access medical records, lab results, pharmacy support and more — all online.

“Fully realized, Project IntelliCare will be a significant resource for our caregivers, which will help them provide better, safer care to those we serve,” said Vice President for Delivery of Care Wynelle Huff, who helped head up the project.

It all began more than two years ago, when Adventist Health’s top clinical, technical and administrative talent were tasked with creating a system based on best practices as well as practical know-how.

The result? An exciting new system that went live in July 2003 at Adventist Medical Center in Portland. It has since been rolled out in Bakersfield, Glendale, Los Angeles and Oahu and will, ultimately, be installed at all 20 Adventist Health hospitals.

“It’s a business necessity and an extension of our mission to provide the best quality care possible,” according to President and CEO Donald R. Ammon.

While Adventist Health always has made patient safety a top priority, Project IntelliCare makes this goal easier to achieve.

It’s no secret that clinicians make better decisions when they have better information. So at the heart of the system is a patient database, which is populated each time a patient enters the hospital. Because information is typed rather than written and is kept in a single location that is accessible to all the right people, there are fewer opportunities for mistakes, misplaced files and misinterpretation.

“Patients are safer and my job is easier thanks to Project IntelliCare. Key patient data is displayed on a single screen that I can access anywhere in the hospital. As an added convenience, the system automatically calculates body surface area, which we use to determine chemotherapy dosages. It even recommends therapeutic doses for each chemo drug for improved accuracy,” reported Zaven Krkasharian, a pharmacist at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Southern California.

From the time a physician decides what medication to order until the moment it is administered, Project IntelliCare is at the ready with an array of alerts and information. Current medications and allergies are noted in the patient database, so adverse reactions can be avoided. Pharmacy notes, drug information and patient education handouts are available at the bedside. Throughout the process, orders are carefully verified by multiple clinicians.

If you’ve ever been admitted to a hospital, you probably remember telling the same story at every turn: height, weight, allergies, current medications. Not so with Project IntelliCare. When a patient registers, all of this information is entered into a single, secure database that is accessible to everyone involved in a patient’s care. Only if a patient is readmitted will she be asked to verify and update her health information. Not only is this more convenient for patients, it makes for more consistent patient records — and treatment.

Waiting, like repetition, is too often a part of the patient experience. Project IntelliCare offers some relief by allowing employees to post lab and radiology results online as soon as they are available. Hence, patients spend less time worrying about test results. And when clinicians have timely access to this information, they can make better, faster treatment decisions.

“With the Project IntelliCare charting system, medical orders can be entered and relayed to the necessary caregivers both faster and more accurately. And now that patient charts are password protected rather than sitting on a shelf, patient privacy is improved as well,” said Sherry Nuqui, RN, a telemetry nurse at San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif.

It’s not often that patients get a behind-the-scenes look at how a hospital works. Most probably don’t care. What matters to them is that their procedures get done right and get done fast the first time. But this doesn’t happen without a solid plan and the right tools. In many cases, Project IntelliCare streamlines the patient care process by eliminating unnecessary steps.

“We used to use three to four programs to get the patient information we needed. Now, with a single click, radiology personnel can access demographics, lab results, orders, prior radiology reports and future appointments,” said Brandon Harer, Radiology System Administrator at Adventist Medical Center (AMC) in Portland, Ore.

When aggregated, these small efficiencies add up to significant time savings — especially important when the health care industry is facing one of the worst nurse shortages in the nation’s history. Not only will Adventist Health’s nurses be able to accomplish more in less time, but they also hope to be able to spend less time on paperwork and more time at the bedside, where the organization’s mission truly comes to life.

Poised for the Future

Project IntelliCare is proving especially attractive to young recruits, who were raised on chat rooms and video games. Filling out forms and patient charts by hand is unimaginable. And why deliver something to another department that could easily be e-mailed? Recent grads assume that employers will provide them with the best tools to do their jobs. Which is why Adventist Health has invested the necessary time and resources to get those tools right.

“We just went live in July and already our resident physicians are thrilled with the added convenience of the new system,” said Althea Kennedy, clinical information systems coordinator at White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles. “Thanks to the mobile devices, they can wheel up to a patient’s bedside and quickly access the most current vitals and lab results.”

Patients, too, care about getting it right, as evidenced by consumer agencies like The Leapfrog Group, which rate health care providers based, in part, on the level of technology offered. For instance, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is recommended to reduce medical errors. While not there yet, Project IntelliCare provides the foundation necessary to make CPOE a reality. “While the technology is exciting, it’s really all about our patients,” said Brett Spenst, vice president and CIO for Adventist Health. “This project demonstrates how clinical and information systems staff can partner to bring value to our customers.”