LibertyHealth implements EDIMS' nursing documentation and charge capture systems

Sep 24 2009

EDIMS LLC, a leading provider of interoperable emergency department (ED) information management systems for hospitals, announced today that LibertyHealth, a two-hospital health system in northern New Jersey, has launched EDIMS’ nursing documentation and charge capture systems to help improve care quality and streamline operations. With the addition of these components, LibertyHealth, which implemented EDIMS’ computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and physician documentation module last March, now has a complete electronic health record (EHR) in its emergency departments.

The EDs at LibertyHealth’s Jersey City Medical Center and Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus receive a combined total of more than 100,000 patient visits per year. With so much pressure on these EDs, LibertyHealth needed an information system that would speed up nursing documentation and ensure compliance with regulations. EDIMS meets both of these needs in numerous areas. For example, the electronic main grid features numerous alerts, so nurses can see the status of their patients and potential bottlenecks in a glance. And, EDIMS provides a single-view order screen that includes everything a nurse needs to process orders without switching to other screens.

“Our ED nurses played an essential role in choosing the nursing documentation module to add to LibertyHealth’s other successful EDIMS platforms,” Joe Scott, president and CEO of LibertyHealth, noted. “They picked EDIMS because it is the most nurse-friendly system on the market and the most straightforward system for capturing charges. In fact, when we saw how the EDIMS system automatically populated the billing system through the nurse documentation, we were sold.”

“In light of the national movement toward automating healthcare records, our goal was to have a complete EHR to facilitate a more productive ED,” Scott added. “The EDIMS’ system allows for seamless and intuitive electronic communication between the physicians and nurses, which is a key component to providing optimal patient care. And, the initial success of EDIMS in our facilities has more than met our expectations.”

“We are delighted that LibertyHealth chose EDIMS nursing documentation and charge capture systems,” commented Shane Hade, chief executive officer of EDIMS. “Our customizable EHR, designed specifically for emergency departments, has been shown to improve operational efficiency and to support improvements in the quality of care. Because nurses handle so much of the work in EDs, the ability to document what they do quickly and efficiently is the key to making EDs safer for patients and more financially sustainable for hospitals.”