Does your EHR technology roadmap include an upgrade from MEDITECH Expanse 2.1 to 2.2? Check out the top 5 functionality enhancements that have our clients buzzing with excitement. Moving from MEDITECH Expanse 2.1 to 2.2 offers valuable benefits across various specialties, including physicians, nurses, physical therapists, oncologists and more. Whether it's streamlining workflows or introducing new clinical routines, these updates promise to enhance efficiency and improve patient care for various clinicians. Read on to discover how this upgrade can positively impact your practice.
Nursing goes web and electronic communication is enhanced between nurses and physicians.
In MEDITECH Expanse 2.2, nurses and all other Patient Care Systems (PCS) users are offered the same web-based chart view providers have in 2.1.
Many of our clients find setting up a similar chart view between disciplines helps streamline the flow of patient information during rounding and transitions of care.
Oncology clinics also benefit from the same web-based chart views in 2.2. These applications get to customize which web widgets they set up within their patients’ charts. They can share the same set up as physicians to streamline chart views between disciplines.
Take a deeper look at ways you can maximize the integration of the Oncology application with Ambulatory workflows. Check out the various integration features your team should collaborate on—especially early in the project.
Branching is the ability to suppress detailed queries from the documentation view until specific responses are selected. When a specific response is selected, the branching rules allow the detailed queries to display to document further detail. This is a feature physicians use in 2.1. Expanse 2.2 introduces branching functionality to nurses and other PCS users. Nurses can use the same branching queries physicians already use, which increases the flow of documentation between nursing and physicians. The branching queries can be recalled into provider documentation from nursing documentation.
Status boards are a customizable favorite
Nursing and PCS ancillaries use WebEhr SB status boards (web patient list formats) in Expanse 2.2. This enables nursing to have all the new status board enhancements available to them. Some of our clients’ favorite new status board features include the orders list, appointment lists, custom quick status lists and emergency department order result lists. These allow patient lists to be compiled based on orders placed such as infusions, respiratory medications, or consult orders. The custom quick status list allows users to select from a custom drop-down list on the status board. This can be used to identify nurse-patient assignments or any other custom communication needed; the options are endless.
The Pre-Admission Testing (PAT) Home Screen is used to document and track calls for surgery patients. The PAT Desktop is enhanced to the new web-based Pre-Admission Testing Home Screen. A custom widget template is created for the Pre-Admission Testing Home Screen.
Help reduce cancellations
This screen displays patient information relevant to the call—all within the same view as the call documentation screen. A custom documentation screen can be added to the call template to ensure all the required information is captured during each call. These improvements reduce the risk of missing pertinent patient information and last-minute surgery cancellations due to unprepared patients.
Goodbye paper, hello automated call list
Many of our clients who previously relied on a paper-based call process have made the switch to automating their call lists with MEDITECH Expanse 2.2, thanks to its significant functionality enhancements. If your hospital is still using paper for this, now is the perfect time to make the upgrade and embrace a more efficient, automated solution!
Protect nurses and patients during care transitions
The Hand-Off Routine is a completely new routine in MEDITECH Expanse 2.2. This routine blends the use of widgets, notes, formatted data, and canned-text in one routine where you can view and document when transitioning patients to a different level of care. It can be used for both in-house unit transfers and outside facility transfers. By maintaining thorough documentation during patient care handoffs, nurses protect themselves and ensure safe, effective care.
3. Customizable Emergency Department Triage for Faster Patient Intake
MEDITECH Expanse 2.2 brings a major enhancement to the emergency department with a complete overhaul of the triage routine. Previously hardcoded, the triage routine is now housed in a flexible documentation section where fields can be added or removed. This update streamlines the process for nurses by embedding only the necessary questions into the triage screen, eliminating irrelevant ones from the workflow. As a result, triage times are shortened, leading to improved patient care and faster throughput times.
4. Community Wide Scheduling (CWS) View from the Status Board Reduces Risk and Clicks for Clinical Teams
In MEDITECH Expanse 2.1, areas like physical therapy, respiratory therapy, and infusion, which schedule in CWS and document in PCS, face clunky workflows. Clinicians must first view the schedule in CWS, then manually search for the patient account to document in PCS. This process increases the risk of accessing and charting on the wrong patient's account.
Expanse 2.2 offers a solution to streamline this workflow by embedding CWS schedules directly into PCS through the scheduling grid overlay. Now, scheduling, making schedule edits, and accessing patient charts for documentation can all be done within PCS. The schedule can also feature color-coded appointments, and there is an option to view an appointment list on the PCS status board. These enhancements have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from therapy and infusion clinic staff, who appreciate the streamlined process.
5. Oncology Goes Web! Get ready for the oncology build.
Ambulatory oncology clinics are web based in Expanse 2.2. Stay tuned to learn more about the enhancements to the MEDITECH oncology chart which we will cover in part 2 of this Expanse 2.1 to 2.2 blog series.
6. Nursing Navigation and Features
Expanse 2.2 navigation becomes easier for nurses and there are several new features that help streamline their workflows. We have been working with nurses during their upgrade and offer a few implementation recommendations to help you make the upgrade a smooth transition for them.
One of the first steps in preparing for an upgrade, especially Expanse 2.1 to 2.2, is to schedule your upgrade with MEDITECH. Your MEDITECH rep can help you secure a go-live date, which will help you develop an overall project timeline.
Assess your current EHR platform, including user feedback
Several of our clients have found it beneficial to perform a current EHR assessment. An assessment provides you with a tool to collect user feedback so you can document and understand opportunities to improve workflows, training, data flow and more.
By assessing your EHR prior to the upgrade, you can better understand resource gaps, infrastructure needs, third party dependencies and more. If unknown, areas like these can jeopardize project timelines and budget. Plus, the assessment report can help you develop a more strategic EHR roadmap that plans for post go-live optimization, helping you outline a more realistic scope for the 2.2 upgrade.
From assessment to go-live and optimization, improving your EHR and maximizing the value of the platform for your healthcare organization is ongoing. See how in this blog EHR Optimization: The New EHR Lifecycle
Advice with nursing perspective on improving clinician experience
Making things better, faster, easier for clinicians is the goal of any upgrade or implementation. Clients appreciate the real-world nursing perspective that we bring and often it helps to bridge the gap that might exist between software vendor and health system staff. My colleagues and I understand what it’s like to be a nurse, are MEDITECH power users, and know how to successfully implement MEDITECH with patient care top of mind.
Does your EHR technology roadmap include an upgrade from MEDITECH Expanse 2.1 to 2.2? Check out the top 5 functionality enhancements that have our clients buzzing with excitement. Moving from...
Nurses have been the largest users of electronic health records for years and they are no strangers to system upgrades. When a nurse hears about a new upgrade coming many questions come up like: What...
