Sharing Medical Records with School Nurses Using EpicCare Link

School nurses are essential members of kids’ care teams, promoting wellness and treating students’ injuries. To improve care coordination with school nurses, Children’s Hospital Colorado provides them with access to medical records for the children they care for through EpicCare Link, a web-based portal they call Children’s Colorado Connect. CHCO first piloted the program with two school districts and five school nurses. Now, they provide over 170 school nurses across 7 school districts with read-only access to students’ health records.

In EpicCare Link, school nurses can view patients’ longitudinal plans of care, current medications, school health care plans, and notes from ED visits and hospital admissions. They’re also able to view state immunization registries to determine whether students are up to date on important immunizations, such as their annual flu shot.

“With Colorado Connect, I don’t have to spend time calling the practices requesting faxed documents, which can take weeks,” said one of the school nurses. “The process has significantly improved communication between home, school, and providers.”

CHCO is one of several organizations across the country leading the way in connecting nurses with community partners, including Nemours. Epic community members can learn more from their joint XGM presentation slides and audio on the UserWeb.