A continuing commitment
New clinical documentation system to improve communication

Thanks to a new computer application rolled out last month, referring physicians will receive the most up-to-date clinical information on the patients they refer to Children's Hospital Boston in a more timely and reliable manner. The Web-based system known as Electronic Clinical Documentation (ECD) was designed by Children's Information Services Department to enhance functionality and replace a more archaic, character-based application called Electronic Signature (ESIG).

“The vast majority of referring physicians will receive clinical notes via fax at the time Children's attending physicians electronically sign them,” says Daniel Nigrin, MD, MS, chief information officer. “Physicians in the community with admitting privileges to Children's who are currently able to edit and authenticate documents can also use ECD.”

In addition to having a much more intuitive and streamlined graphical Web interface than the previous application, Children's physicians can view lab results and create documents such as operative notes, clinic notes and discharge summaries in the same system where they sign them. Other new functions include:

Inserting portions of previous clinical documents into the document being edited.

• Creating, managing and inserting templates.
• Editing CC lists.
• Adding “sticky note” messages.
• Adding an addendum to an existing authenticated document.

 

If you have admitting privileges to Children's and have questions about using ECD, or are a referring provider looking for more information about the program, help is available at (617) 355-2002.