SAVES TIME AND MONEY
I use QHN several times throughout the day every day.
We changed EHR systems 1 1/2 years ago and none of our previous data transferred over. With Meditech, I can connect directly to the patient’s QHN account and quickly find data from our previous system as well as other outside facilities. This saves time and money. As a critical care hospital district, our patients are often sent to larger facilities for tests and treatment and I have access to this data through QHN. This means I don’t have to make phone calls and ask to have information faxed. Again saving time and money. We are really looking at our quality measures and QHN is invaluable for finding outside mammograms, Dexa scans, pap results, and colonoscopies. This allows us to provide better care.
Without QHN, my workload would be impacted negatively. I would have to sign into our old system and search for data and manually transfer that data into our new system. I would have no access to outside information unless it is sent to us and then I would have to wait for the fax to find its way to me among the jumble of other papers. Information would no longer be available in a timely manner and patient care would be impacted. Our quality measures would very difficult to meet without access to the data provided by QHN.
SAVES TIME FOR OUR STAFF, MAKING IT EASIER TO GET PATIENTS IN TO BE SEEN QUICKLY
We use QHN quite a bit! We are able to share our lab and imaging data, as well as our Controlled Substance Agreements, to help ensure continuity for our patients when they are seen elsewhere such as the hospital. Our primary care providers and staff each pull information from QHN multiple times each and every day. Most of the time we gather additional information on a patient’s hospital say or ER visit in order to transition them safely back home and to prevent a return to the hospital. QHN sends hospital ADT data directly to us immediately, which our Care Coordinator uses for proactive outreach to those patients before or after discharge. Our specialists utilize QHN in order to gather additional information for their new patients that have been referred by another provider; this saves time for our staff, making it easier to get patients in to be seen quickly.
Without QHN, we would have unhappy providers and patients because not all the pertinent information would be available for a number of visits. Medical Records staff would be spending much of their time reaching out to other organizations to have them fax documentation to us; we’d probably have to hire another ½ time person for that department.
I have always had wonderful experiences with QHN personnel – helpful, friendly, knowledgeable.
AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE
I use QHN daily, throughout the day, looking for consultation notes, hospital notes, labs, x-rays, procedure notes, etc. QHN has been an invaluable resource to me and the rest of us working in Medical Records here at Cedar Point Health. The Physicians and/or Medical Assistants appreciate the fact that we can access those records quickly and get them into the EMR, in time for the appointments.
If not for QHN, we would be left to call around for those notes, reports, results, etc. and most definitely would not get them in a timely manner, no matter how much we stressed the importance and/or urgency. Our patients just would not get seen as quickly, without those documents from QHN, or they would surely have to spend a lot more time explaining their history to the provider. In so many cases, the patient isn’t a very good historian, and currently – those patients are not able to necessarily bring a family member or caretaker in with them for the appointment.
QHN SAVES US HOURS OF WORK
As public health, we are responsible for investigating communicable diseases. As such, provider notes and patient’s labs are critical in understanding why a person has been diagnosed with a concerning infection. CDPHE has strict requirements in defining when a person has a confirmed infection and only lab and physician notes may provide that critical information. Sometimes when patients are ill they are not able to clearly recall certain events.
We rely heavily on the notes QHN has in its database. In addition, when we see patients at the health department clinic they cannot recall clearly when certain procedures were done and we turn to QHN to provide them with their medical record. Prior to QHN we would contact the provider directly and ask them to fax over the patient’s records…this could take as long as hours and sometimes days to get the results which delayed our being able to move forward on critical decisions. Not to mention the possible technical difficulties of fax machines!!!
QHN saves us hours of work.
IMMMENSELY HELPFUL IN UNDERSTANDING PATIENT’S HISTORIES
I use QHN on most patients I see in the ED with any degree of complexity in their presentation. It has of course proven immensely helpful in understanding patient’s histories and the thought processes of treating clinicians. This information would by default only come from the patient/family or local EMR otherwise and obtaining any of the additional information in QHN would present significant delays and manpower needs. It is of daily benefit.
I recall the days before QHN and the patients nowadays are on average significantly more complex, not to mention more numerous. QHN is an essential tool in the ED, akin to the introduction of tools in the department in the past 20 years such as pharmacy, social work, case management, ultrasound.
QHN CUTS DOWN ON THE BACK AND FORTH
I use QHN on a daily basis and find it a hugely valuable resource. It allows me to see if patients have had to be seen in the ER, for example, since my last visit with them, with relevant lab values. I would say I use it mostly for: labs, current med list from primary care, any ER visits. There have definitely been times when a medical issue that directly affects patient care came to light via QHN, and I was able to make a more informed and safer treatment recommendation based on that info.
Without QHN, there would be a lot more phone tag/faxing/etc. between our office, the local primary care providers’ offices, and the hospital.
QHN cuts down on the back and forth.
MAKES ME WAY MORE EFFICIENT
I use QHN daily.
I am a PAT nurse, and my role is to interview and assess patients prior to their planned surgeries. Sometimes I do not receive an H&P for several reasons. QHN, especially in those cases, is a highly beneficial tool. I am able to gather information from PCP providers, tests ie labs, xrays, ekgs, echos, covid results. Makes me way more efficient at my job. I think other areas of the hospital would also benefit from use of QHN. As an example of this, an ER patient coming in unconscious or uncooperative you could access some basic info about prescribed meds and medical history which could be vital to diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes patients aren’t the best historians. To get clear explanations in medical terminology from PCP providers, ER physicians, etc can be critical to understanding a patient’s full health picture.
Without QHN, my day would be a lot less efficient, relying on patient’s memories, and missing full medication lists, surgical histories, past medical histories. Often PCP see patients for preoperative clearances but there can be significant times lapse from when they see the patient, write their notes, and fax to the requesting surgeon.
With use of QHN the notes are available as soon as the physician has signed the note. The Covid results done at other facilities would take much longer to receive. I would likely have to call to get the result which would slow other medical professionals down from doing their work as well.
MY DAY WITHOUT QHN WOULD BE A LOT MORE DIFFICULT
I use QHN to gather medical records for my provider prior to appointments and I use it on a daily basis. It helps to save me time because I don’t have to request the records from the facilities and wait for them to send them to me which in turn gets patients into the office sooner and makes them happier.
My day without QHN would be a lot more difficult, I would be sending a lot more medical record requests and waiting on records to get my referrals processed. My whole process would be slowed down and the process of getting patients scheduled in would be affected.
Anytime I have had an issue with QHN it has been resolved in a timely fashion and I really do appreciate that. Thank you for all that you do!
PROVIDE BETTER CARE
At the Grand Junction Fire Department we use QHN to follow up on complex patients daily. This allows providers to learn from the presentations they saw and to provide better care to their next patient.
IMPROVE MY PRODUCTIVITY
I use QHN quite a bit during the workday. I use it for admits getting information that the hospital does not send us in regards to their insurance and next of kin information. Also of times with hospice and home admits I use the service so that I can get SS#’s and Medicare and Medicaid numbers. Also it does help with having the right dx for the residents.
A lot of times I check in the mornings on admits that we are waiting for to see if they may discharge soon. We do not get discharge summaries often so having this service able to have that for our final dx. It is very helpful for active residents and getting their scans and labs back faster. Thank you for this service.
I have been the Medical Records Director since 2013, and being able to just look this information up such as lab work done in offices and notes from the physicians and such, has improved my productivity.
Not having to send multiple faxes or phone call to the offices to get this information is so much easier for the whole team.
I HAVE NEVER HAD A TOOL LIKE THIS
I use QHN numerous times every day and several times over the weekend. The rest of our staff, nurses, coordinators and our pharmacist all use QHN as an integral part of their daily work.
I have been a medical director for over 20 years and have never had a tool like this. In my previous work in California it would have been invaluable in getting the information necessary to review authorization requests and would have shortened the turnaround times for getting requests reviewed, thereby speeding up the service to both providers and patients.
Use of HIE decreases future readmissions and the number of future encounters.
HIE use was associated with an overall estimated annual savings of $32,460 in avoided repeat imaging.
Use of HIE resulted in a 52% reduction in radiology exams and a 36% reduction in laboratory testing.
Adding HIE info to EHR data raises medication accuracy to 91%.
QHN’s Health Information Exchange Network has received HITRUST certification.
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