St. Luke's Hospital Chesterfield

Challenge

Responding to the $19 billion in federal incentive grants set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the adoption of Electronic Medical Records, hospitals nationwide are working to drive paper out of their clinical operations. At St. Luke’s Hospital, a key target was hand-written doctors’ pharmacy orders and paper prescription pads.

Although St. Luke’s already had 150 Lexmark printers installed throughout its campuses and used Lexmark printers in its inpatient pharmacy to generate labels for orders, the process of getting physicians’ medication orders to the pharmacy was still based on the traditional paper model. The goal for St. Luke’s was to have physicians generate orders electronically using the hospital’s recently implemented Cerner® PowerChart® comprehensive EMR solution, and have discharge prescriptions print at the nursing stations.

“We had some copiers and multifunction devices from another manufacturer, but they were unable to accommodate secure prescription printing,” said Glen Schodroski, St. Luke’s information services manager. “The answer was Lexmark’s Tamper Resistant Prescription Printing solution.”

Solution

To generate prescription orders at the nursing station while maintaining full compatibility with its Cerner EMR system, St. Luke’s deployed Lexmark’s Tamper Resistant Prescription Printing solution.

“Physicians can now enter prescriptions directly into the Cerner system and print the prescription immediately,” said Schodroski. “With our Lexmark solution, we print a watermark and other security features directly on plain paper. The approach is more affordable, reduces risk and improves patient care.”

Once printed, the prescription is signed by the physician and attached to the patient’s chart. The prescription can be filled in the hospital’s retail pharmacy.

St. Luke’s had considered printing prescriptions on tamper-proof paper, testing the idea in its emergency department. The expense of purchasing and securing the special media, combined with the need to add an extra, dedicated paper drawer to its printers, rendered that approach unworkable.

Results

At St. Luke’s, physicians now create prescriptions electronically, automatically linking them to the patient’s electronic medical record, and ensuring fulfillment accuracy by removing potentially imprecise penmanship from the process. Paper prescription pads are only necessary for downtime procedures. The new process has also eliminated the risk of prescription paper being stolen and used illegally.

Reaction from physicians and nurses has been positive, in Schodroski’s opinion. “With the combination of Cerner EMR and our Lexmark solution, everything is now done in one place and we have a searchable record of what has been prescribed,” said Schodroski.

St. Luke’s working relationship with Lexmark long ago evolved into a trusted partnership. “Lexmark takes care of us,” said Schodroski. “Working with Lexmark has been a very positive relationship.”

Transitioning from a paper-based clinical operation to one based on electronic medical records requires significant planning and cooperation at all levels. “At St. Luke’s, we’ve worked diligently to minimize the impact of the EMR transition on our staff,” said Schodroski. “And this Lexmark solution is making a difference for the hospital, our staff and our patients.”