• Press Release

Mount Sinai Queens Goes Paperless with New Epic Electronic Medical Record

The rollout of the Epic Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at Mount Sinai Queens is complete, this is the second major phase of Mount Sinai’s $120 million EMR rollout.

  • Astoria, New York
  • (April 12, 2013)

Less than a year after the project began, the rollout of the Epic Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at Mount Sinai Queens is complete, with the system going "live" as of earlier this week.  This is the second major phase of Mount Sinai’s $120 million EMR rollout, with the first phase having taken place at the Mount Sinai Medical Center's campus in Manhattan.  The implementation of Epic allows Mount Sinai Queens staff to chart patients using an EMR instead of paper records, and makes for the seamless transfer of medical records between inpatient treatment areas and doctors' offices.  

"The Epic EMR provides numerous advantages and added safeguards for patients, allowing for the enhanced coordination of patient care," said Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director of Mount Sinai Queens. "This top flight technology will allow Mount Sinai Queens to continue to provide efficient patient-centered medical care."

"Both patient and clinician benefit greatly from electronic medical records, and with Epic, Mount Sinai Queens now has the gold standard in EMR," said Kumar Chatani, Chief Technology Officer of The Mount Sinai Medical Center.  "We are confident that Epic will greatly improve the patient experience and allow us to meet the goals of maximizing health outcomes for our patients."

The Epic implementation will help physicians maintain a more complete and accurate history of patient's prior conditions and prescriptions.  For example, Epic can caution doctors about medications that could cause allergic reactions in patients; provide information to emergency medical staff even if a patient is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated; and alert doctors to potential safety problems before they occur.  EMRs can also help numerous providers that may treat a patient stay current with the patient's condition and with any treatment or medications the patient may have received from other hospital staff, physicians, or specialists.

"The new electronic medical record system fully integrates information throughout the entire Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, Mount Sinai Queens, and physician practices throughout the five boroughs," said David Nierman, MD, MMM, Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, Mount Sinai Queens.  "There are numerous and specific advantages to an electronic medical record. We are looking forward to the many ways Epic will allow us to better serve our individual patients, as well as contribute to the well-being of our entire community."

"This project has been a transformational journey for the entire Mount Sinai community, with strong executive sponsorship and partnership with every department key to the success of Epic," said Kristin Myers, Vice President of Information Technology for Mount Sinai, who has led the program since its inception.  "The implementation of Epic at Mount Sinai Queens will help ensure a single electronic medical record for every patient, whether they are seen in Queens or at our Manhattan campus.  This will facilitate improvements in efficiency, communication, care delivery, and patient safety for our patients."

To ensure the success of the Epic rollout, comprehensive training was provided for 875 employees and medical staff; new hardware was also deployed across the campus, including more than 280 stationary and mobile workstations, 44 pharmacy and label printers, and a robust campus-wide wireless network. 

In late 2012, Mount Sinai received the prestigious Davies Award of Excellence from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in recognition of its EMR system.  Among other reasons, HIMSS cited Mount Sinai's use of Epic EMR to reduce Medicare readmissions by 56 percent, and – as the following table shows – for other increased hospital quality measures, such as provision of discharge instructions for patients and dispensing antibiotics prior to surgery.  And last year, Mount Sinai was named to the "Most Connected" list by U.S. News & World Report, as a national medical institution recognized for clinical excellence that is also at the forefront in the use of digital technology.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors.  Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by  U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place. 

For more information, visit www.mountsinai.org, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.

About Mount Sinai Queens
Mount Sinai Queens is a 235-bed licensed acute care hospital, providing adult medical and surgical services, with a team of nearly 500 physicians representing close to 40 medical and surgical specialties and sub-specialties.  Between the physicians and staff, 35 languages are spoken; just one of the many ways that Mount Sinai Queens serves the needs of the culturally diverse population of our community.  Mount Sinai Queens serves the communities of Western Queens and beyond by providing primary and specialty care; occupational, speech and physical therapy; outpatient surgery; cancer care and a range of radiological testing.  

Mount Sinai Queens is the first and only community hospital to bear the prestigious Mount Sinai name and is unique in the community because it is not just affiliated with Mount Sinai Manhattan— it is a fully integrated part of The Mount Sinai Hospital, combining medical excellence with the compassionate, caring environment you expect from a community hospital.  For more information, visit http://www.mshq.org/.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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