SSM Health Care is undertaking a $330 million transformation – from paper medical records to an electronic health record (EHR). The new EHR allows caregivers access to patient information at any time, from anywhere.

 View a slideshow and feature by BusinessWeek featuring some of the "most wired" hospitals in the country, including SSM facilities.
Read about how the patient-friendly MyChart is now available for St. Louis-area patients.

Play EHR Video

Watch May 31, 2008 "go live" of EHR at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wis.

Dr. Jay Moore's office was the first SSM physician's office to go live with EHR. Listen to his interview on SSM's online radio show Up Close.

Patients can expect safer, faster care and more convenience. Five SSM hospitals launched EHR in 2008. In 2009, EHR went live at SSM St. Clare Health Center (Fenton, Mo.) on March 30 and at St. Clare Hospitsl and Health Services (Baraboo, Wis.) on April 18. SSM DePaul Health Center, Bridgeton, Mo., went online Aug. 1 and SSM St. Mary's Health Center, in Richmond Heights, Mo., launched Nov. 7.

SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center (St. Louis) was the most recent SSM - St. Louis hospital to go live with EHR in April 2010. The schedule calls for St. Anthony Hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony in Oklahoma City on March 26, 2011. The remaining hospitals in Missouri and Illinois will be posted when dates are available.

SSM St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., was the first SSM hospital to go live with EHR in March 2008. You can read about and watch a video from the launch at SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Mo., on December 6, 2008.

SSM is among the top U.S. hospitals for EHR adoption, based on standards set by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

"The long-term benefits of the electronic health record will be recognized at every level of SSM Health Care and, most importantly, by every patient who visits one of our hospitals," said Tom Langston, SSM Health Care chief information officer, of "Project Beacon."

More than 100 full-time staff have been dedicated to the project and more than 1,000 clinicians have been involved in the design. When the clinical portion of the project wraps up in 2010-11, EHR will be available on more than 13,000 computers at SSM facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma. Physicians will also be able to access the system through a secure, web portal from any Internet-capable computer.

EHR Fast Facts:

• Doctors and nurses will have instant computer access to patient information no matter the caregiver’s location, eliminating reliance on paper records and saving precious time.
• The EHR will be secure, meaning only medical personnel involved in treatment can access the information.
• The EHR will automatically cross-check medications against other prescribed drugs, diagnoses and lab results, and suggest possible changes in treatment.
• The EHR will offer enormous savings in the use and cost of paper.