Centra recently announced it will go live with a new Electronic Health Record, an effort that has been years in the making, on Sept. 1. According to the press release, “This is single handedly the largest undertaking in Centra’s 32-year history.”

The release went on to say, “Centra is consolidating several electronic health record applications into one integrated system with Cerner. The list of patient benefits, while too long to list in its entirety, can be summarized by: Patients have online access to their personal medical records 24/7 through HealthyU. Realtime information on their condition will be available to the care team at all times. Health care providers and staff will be able to access a patient’s complete patient record no matter which Centra facility they visit. The timeliness and availability of patient data will enable providers to make better decisions and provide better care. This record will allow us to better manage a patient’s medications which will lead to safer medical care. Patients will experience more seamless and timely billing that will be combined in to one single statement.”

As with anything new, there will be a time of familiarization. According to the release, “Second only to patient care, this Cerner project is Centra’s No. 1 priority. Centra is diligently working to ensure any changes will have a minimal impact on patients. While employees have undergone extensive training, patients may experience longer than normal check in/checkout times and longer waits as providers and staff learn to use the tools in their everyday clinical practice.”