UK St. Claire implements an additional ER information system to deliver faster, more effective emergency care

UK St. Claire emergency room physicians now have new, state-of-the-art software that helps them obtain their patient’s past medical history from other health care systems which allow them to make faster, more informed treatment decisions. The software called EDie, Emergency Department Information Exchange, was developed by Salt Lake City-based Collective Medical Technologies and is being provided at no cost to UK St. Claire by the Kentucky Hospital Association thanks to a $250,000 grant from the Anthem Foundation.

“Until now, when a patient came into our Emergency Room, we didn’t have the time or data access needed for a thorough medical history review if medical care had taken place in medical facilities outside of UK St. Claire’s health system,” said Philip C. Overall, St. Claire Emergency Services Medical Director. “We often had to make treatment decisions in the moment based on limited information.”

EDie collects data from thousands of hospitals, urgent treatment clinics, outpatient clinics, and health plans. It then packages needed data for emergency situations and delivers critical information to the emergency physician in real time, the instant it’s needed. In one concise report, St. Claire emergency providers can see patient history, visit summaries, medical providers, security events, and even care recommendations like preferred language and drug allergies.

Dr. Overall says EDie consolidates information from multiple sources that would take hours to obtain otherwise, and lets emergency physicians make faster, more informed clinical decisions.

“Information is a powerful tool in medicine, especially in emergency medicine, when life and death decisions must be made quickly,” said Dr. Overall.

The Kentucky Hospital Association is making EDie software available to hospitals across the commonwealth.

“One particularly powerful application of this technology is in fighting Kentucky’s opioid epidemic,” explained KHA President Nancy Galvagni. “Emergency room hopping’ is a serious obstacle in helping people suffering from addiction, and this software can tell a treating physician if the patient has a history of ER visits for pain treatment. EDie can be the difference between enabling addiction and treating it.”

The Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky, awarded the Kentucky Hospital Association this $250,000 grant as part of the organization’s efforts to create a more effective health care system.

“At Anthem, our mission is to simplify health care and improve lives and communities. Breaking down information silos is a critical component of achieving that goal,” said Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky President Kennan Wethington. “We’re incredibly proud of this exciting partnership because it will put EDie technology in the hands of more physicians as more and more forward-thinking hospitals choose to participate.”