Alameda Health Brings on ‘Epic’ Electronic Health Records Platform

Alameda Health System (AHS), just launched a $200 million electronic health records (EHR) platform within its healthcare and training operations. The Epic platform will help AHS increase coordination and enhance overall patient care across the company’s health system, which includes five hospitals and nine facilities.

The largest EHR vendor in the U.S., Epic has a database of more than 250 million patients and will give providers access to patients’ medical information—alleviating the added wait time of searching for hard copies directly from hospitals or other health facilities.

“Implementing this system is a foundational milestone to our health care delivery system with the aim to provide truly integrated, high quality, and safe care to our patients and community,” said Ghassan Jamaleddine, MD, CMO of AHS, in a company statement. “The care they want and deserve.”

Epic will expand the AHS network, which already includes the MyAlamedaHealth portal that gives patients 24-hour access to schedule appointments, the ability to request prescription refills, reminders about preventative screening and other services. Now, via Epic’s portal, AHS can also exchange data with other systems, allowing providers to coordinate patient care outside of their system leading to an improved overall patient experience.

Several hospitals in the U.S. have already adopted Epic’s EHR platform, including Phelps Health in Missouri and Connecticut’s Charlotte Hungerford.

“We're committed to meeting the unique needs of our community and are very excited about the multiple benefits the new EHR system means for improved clinical efficiency, health management and patient care,” said Delvecchio Finley, CEO, AHS. “Investing in this robust technology that equips our teams with a single electronic health record means that AHS will be able to deliver better integrated care, with added convenience, to our patients.”

Helming the implementation of the Epic systems at AHS is Mark Amey, who was recently hired as chief information officer; Amey previously served as associate CIO at the University of California San Diego Health.

“I am excited to join Alameda Health System at this pivotal time in the history of the organization,” said Amey in a recent interview. “Having gone through similar projects in the past, I know this implementation will transform the care we provide, including the exchange of information and communications with patients and medical colleagues.”