NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, both based in New York City, have reported improved patient experience since adopting the Epic EMR system in April 2016.
Prior to the Epic implementation, internal hospital data suggested the average time between patient arrival and completed visit was 104 minutes, with some weekly averages ranging as high as 120 minutes. Since deploying the EMR, that time has dropped to an average of 80 minutes, with little variation week-by-week.
Hospital officials partially credit the Epic MyChart patient portal for improving patient engagement. From January to May of this year, patient registrants on MyChart grew by more than 45 percent. Patients have used the service to refill medications 4,300 times since deployment, and the portal has recorded almost 4,500 messages between patients and providers to date.
The Epic EMR deployment at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst is part of the health system's systemwide Epic implementation, encompassing EMR and revenue cycle services. The health system expects to complete the integrated platform's rollout — which will unify 40,000 users in more than 70 patient care sites — during the last quarter of 2020.