What Is the eRecord?
The eRecord is a group of systems where every bit of patient data can be called up at the patient’s bedside. At UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, that record travels with the patient and is always available to the medical team. This data includes:
- Tests
- Procedures
- Radiology images
- Assessments
- Recommendations
- Medications
What Makes eRecord Work?
An advanced infrastructure creates reliable, redundant, secure, and ubiquitous digital systems in the new Children’s Hospital:
- More than 400 miles of cabling in the main hospital building alone
- 56 telecom rooms containing 118 state-of-the-art network switches
- 2,000 wireless access points
- 100 percent coverage for most wireless technologies
- More than 4,000 computers — including mobile monitor carts
Digital Medicine Requires Support
Supporting this complex eRecord technology requires a serious commitment of IT resources and a proactive approach to developing processes that work for patients and staff members alike.
- In FY 2009, Children’s Hospital’s Information Services (IS) help desk took approximately 83,000 calls.
- IS team members regularly conduct proactive physician-style rounds in clinical areas, working with doctors and nurses to identify potential technical problems before they occur.
- An IS clinical desktop team member is available on call as a direct help line for physicians.
In Case of Disaster
A digital hospital must be able to rely on computer systems in any conceivable situation. All systems at the new Children’s have been painstakingly designed for redundant disaster recovery.
- Dual data centers, servers, and network paths
- The campus is a node on the UPMC Metropolitan Optical Backbone — with two physically redundant fiber paths back to the UPMC network
- State-of-the-art backup power systems
Learn more about how barcode technology helps keep patients safe.
