A Message to Employees from Dave Bernd, CEO, Sentara Healthcare
Sentara eCare®: Transforming the Future
In 2005 when the United States government called for each patient to have an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) within the next 10 years, Sentara listened.
With the successful launch of Sentara eCare Health Network® and the implementation of the EMR at Sentara Leigh Hospital in late February 2008, we're leading a national trend toward improving the way medical care is managed, increasing patient safety and reducing preventable medical errors.
Sentara eCare® benefits include:
electronic medical records in real time for physicians and clinicians
enhanced patient safety and quality of care for patients
more efficient security and privacy for our patients.
I’d like to thank and congratulate the employees of Sentara eCare®, Sentara Leigh and those who worked on implementation teams across the system to prepare to go live with the new system. The cooperation and teamwork we’ve observed of Sentara staff throughout the system, since the Sentara eCare® concept was introduced, has been phenomenal.
In the months before the launch at Sentara Leigh, we had nurses volunteering from other sites — both Southside and Peninsula — to cover shifts for nurses at Leigh so they could attend training (see related feature story on the RN Backfill Project). And, to accommodate all of the Sentara Leigh staff who needed to be trained in a short period of time, Sentara Norfolk General hosted the training sessions.
During the first weeks of Sentara eCare® going live, many Sentara Leigh employees shared their first-hand accounts of what it was like to use the new system with me. I encourage you to read these personal experiences, so that you can share the excitement of this transformation with your colleagues.
Employees may log onto WaveNet and visit the eCare® educational page to read the stories.
As we continue to work together and look forward to our next Sentara eCare® launches, we can be proud that we are truly adopting a system that will revolutionize healthcare as we know it today.
2008
- Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
- Sentara Bayside Hospital/Sentara Princess Anne Health Campus
2009
- Sentara Norfolk General Hospital
- Sentara CarePlex Hospital
- Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
2010
- Sentara Obici Hospital
Visit
www.sentara.com/eCare