Here are five digital alerts and tools that hospitals and health systems have developed or integrated with their EHR systems since October.
1. Paterson, N.J.-based St. Joseph's Health and Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health signed up to pilot Cerner's Voice Assist technology, which allows clinicians to interact with their Cerner EHR using just their voice as a way to decrease manual data documentation.
2. Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital, New Orleans-based Ochsner Health and Denver (Colo.) Health signed up for Lyft and Epic's new integration, which allows healthcare workers to coordinate rides for patients directly from the EHR.
3. Epic launched a COVID-19 risk prediction model developed by Cleveland Clinic within its EHR software to help healthcare clients identify patients' likelihood of testing positive for the virus. With the calculator, patients complete a self-assessment in Epic's online patient portal, MyChart, to document symptoms they are experiencing and potential exposure to COVID-19. The model then uses that information in addition to their clinical and demographic data to calculate their risk score.
4. The National Institute on Aging awarded Cleveland Clinic a $2.6 million grant to build and validate two automated tools that identify and screen patients at high risk of cognitive decline. The health system integrated the tools into its Epic EHR platform, so patient results are automatically recorded in their record.
5. Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers added headshots in patients' medical records to reduce order errors in the EHR as part of a quality improvement project in the emergency department.