Catholic Health of Buffalo, N.Y., said it is spending $100 million — its largest investment ever — to transition to the Epic medical record platform by late 2020.
Catholic Health is made up of five hospital campuses and a network of long-term care campuses, clinician offices, other ambulatory care locations, home care and ancillary services — all of which will use the new system.
In a press release announcing the initiative, Catholic Health says it expects clinical efficiency, productivity and patient satisfaction to improve with the single electronic health record in place. Patients will get access to a patient portal where they can view test results, care plans, and health and wellness information. They will also be able to make appointments, communicate with providers and pay bills online.
Catholic Health will build a technology center in leased space at the Jesuit Canisius College in Buffalo, where the health system will build and test the new Epic platform. A 150-member Epic implementation team from Catholic Health — including 40 new hires — will work at the center.
Catholic Health President and Chief Executive Mark Sullivan says in the release, "One of our goals is to create a talent pipeline between the college and our health system to give students real-world experience that they can put into practice within our health system."
Canisius College President John Hurley adds that Catholic Health will offer internships and mentorships to Canisius College students "who will be future leaders in IT, data analytics, finance, health care and a host of disciplines that interface with this technology."