CareVue in Behavioral Health Facilities

Medsphere’s CareVue system is implemented in acute, ambulatory, long-term care, critical access and behavioral health environments, demonstrating the effectiveness and flexibility of the solution as a patient care platform.

Silver Hill Hospital

Silver Hill was 80 percent paperless before implementing CareVue, according to Silver Hill President and Medical Director Sigurd Ackerman, MD. When the hospital tried to add CPOE to the mix, however, they found these legacy proprietary systems were basically “unlinkable.” CareVue, on the other hand, offered a clinically comprehensive EHR solution that is fully integrated – i.e., runs on a single database – and interfaces easily with other systems.

“Physicians are famous for their handwriting, so electronic order entry, which eliminates handwritten prescriptions and other orders, is intrinsic to any patient safety initiative,” said Ackerman. “Many of our physicians know VistA from their VA training rotations, making CareVue, essentially a derivative of the VA system, pretty popular. All they wanted to know was ‘how soon can we make this happen?'”

Silver Hill simultaneously implemented all pertinent CareVue components, including lab and pharmacy. “We chose a ‘big bang’ go-live so our clinicians could enjoy easy, secure access to real-time patient information from day one,” said Ackerman. “Electronic systems don’t replace good medicine but they certainly help us give patients the best care possible. We were intent on reaping the greatest safety and outcomes improvements as quickly as possible.”