Nurses Lead the Way to Patient Safety Using Epic

At Rochester Regional Health in New York, nursing teamwork and clear guidance in Epic keep patients healthier in the hospital, with 68% fewer central line infections, 20% fewer falls, improved safety for blood transfusions, and near-universal barcode scanning for neonatal breast milk feedings.

Nurses are notified in Epic when a patient is at risk of a fall or has a central line in place, and they can easily document preventive measures. Barcode scanning simplifies breast milk feedings and blood administrations by recording key information quickly.

Rochester Regional’s nursing leadership and staff led the safety improvements, identifying safety features in Epic, training colleagues, and advocating for the new workflows. Their nurse-led project teams and CNO Council used analytics in Epic each week to review workflows and policies and make adjustments as needed.

“Nurses are well positioned to lead the transformative changes that are occurring in healthcare,” said Rochester Regional’s nursing leadership in a case study. They “view the electronic medical record as an opportunity to improve patient care, safety, quality, coordination and communication.”

Rochester Regional Health received HIMSS Stage 7 recognition in 2017 for successes including their inpatient safety improvements. Read more from Nurse Leader.