UC San Diego Accelerates Interoperability with Local EHR Integration
UC San Diego increased its interoperability and its COVID-19 response when it integrated its roughly 60,000 EHRs into nearby UC San Diego Health.
Integrating EHRs from a learning institution and its affiliated academic medical center boosts interoperability and improves patient care and patient safety, according to a study published in the Journal of American College Health.
Furthermore, the EHR system helped the school’s COVID-19 response by granting increased access to testing tools, telehealth, decision support, and a COVID-19 dashboard.
Prior to the initial COVID-19 outbreak, UC San Diego (UCSD) connected its roughly 40,000 students to UC San Diego Health’s Epic Systems EHR platform. This marked the first time a California college connected to its affiliated health system.
According to the school, other colleges can use this successful model in the future.
“After the medical record transition, we observed significant improvements to the provision of care for UC San Diego students. The goal was to enhance care coordination, increase the availability of vital medical information, and offer access to the resources and expertise of UC San Diego Health,” Christopher Longhurst, MD, chief information officer at UC San Diego Health, said in a statement.
“These benefits were amplified during the pandemic. By sharing health records, we’ve improved the continuity of care for students through same-day video visits, improved turnaround for radiology results, and accessible COVID-19 testing.”
At go-live, health IT professionals created 36,023 student patient records for integration. Within two weeks, 1,194 of 1,230 patient visits occurred and clinicians processed nearly 1,000 prescriptions.
By June 1, 2020, researchers said 19,509 students connected to the patient portal and the average radiology exam decreased from 98 minutes to 27 minutes. Nearly 20,000 patient visits occurred within the first six months.
“Here’s what’s impressive,” Longhurst said. “When the medical records went live, we instantly had access to 93,000 unique medical record documents from 262 health systems in the US.”
“Over the course of six months, almost 250,000 unique documents were shared from clinics and hospitals across California, Oregon, Philadelphia, Virginia, Wisconsin, and numerous other states,” Longhurst continued. “The institutions included CVS, children’s hospitals and cancer hospitals. Imagine how important these medical records were to understanding the big picture needs of our students.”
It’s common for a college student not to forget some details of her medical history, so it was vital to connect to over 260 health systems across the country. With the connection, clinicians can see if the student is prescribed any drug, such as birth control, insulin, or Ritalin.
“When you have a student’s full documented medical history, you can undoubtedly improve the delivery of care, especially when it’s shared care with other providers,” said Marlene Millen, MD, chief medical information officer at UC San Diego Health.
Researchers said the integration helped the campus remain safe during COVID-19. Using the platform, student patients could utilize telehealth to maintain social distancing. In May when the school launched its Return to Learn initiative, nearly 1,500 students self-tested for COVID-19 within three weeks, proving the health system could handle a significant number of tests in a short period of time.
“Being integrated into a health system during COVID-19 gave us access to a number of tools which streamlined our ability to care for our students,” said Angela L. Scioscia, MD, interim executive director of UC San Diego Student Health and Well-Being.
“First of all, we were connected to a very efficient laboratory process for rapid COVID test results that were recorded in the students’ charts within 24-hours. This meant quick notification to students with instructions on how to quarantine and receive care, if needed.”
The streamlined integration also lets students access their test results in the patient portal. This also let the school construct a COVID-19 test registry to keep track of positive test results.
“UC San Diego Student Health and Well-Being converted to video visits for more than 95 percent of students who utilize campus health services,” said Scioscia. “The video visits meant uninterrupted care for students and was critical to students seeking mental health care during an extraordinary stressful period of time.”