McKenzie Health System and MyMichigan Health jointly announced today they will be partnering to support and enhance clinical service offerings in the Sanilac County area and to provide a new Epic Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at McKenzie Health System.
The new Epic system offers patients several benefits including timely access to medical information, immediate safety checks on prescriptions, one-time collection of information, and advanced security of records.
Steve Barnett, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of McKenzie Health System, says a decision was made to look for a partner that could assist them with integrating Epic as their EMR platform. In addition, they were looking for a preferred partner to enhance clinical services. “McKenzie is already partnering with MyMichigan for clinical services in Cardiology, Behavioral Health, and Tele-Stroke and they seemed the perfect partner for Epic as well as exploring additional clinical affiliations. The prospect of collaborating with MyMichigan and implementing the EPIC software system is exciting. It will bring our system to an entirely new level by providing a robust integrated platform that will better meet the needs of our patients and health care providers. The agreement focuses on partnering with MyMichigan on access, offering additional clinical services and strategy, as well as strengthening our electronic medical record to provide patients secure access to their protected health information.”
MyMichigan Health, a non-profit health system headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is a leader in providing award-winning, high-quality care to the 26-county region it serves. With Medical Centers in Alma, Alpena, Clare, Gladwin, Midland, Mt. Pleasant, Saginaw, Sault Ste. Marie, Standish, Tawas, Towne Centre and West Branch, MyMichigan Health provides a full continuum of care across a wide array of settings, including urgent care centers, home health, virtual care, as well as medical offices in more than 80 specialties and subspecialties including cardiology, hematology/oncology, orthopedics, vascular surgery, family medicine, pediatrics and more. MyMichigan is affiliated with Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of University of Michigan.
MyMichigan and McKenzie Health System have been working collaboratively for several years on providing specialty care in the Sandusky service area, for example through cardiology services provided by Vipin Khetarpal, M.D., MyMichigan CardioVascular Institute. McKenzie Health System will be joining a network of hospitals in MyMichigan’s Community Connect program to include Helen Newberry Joy Hospital and Health System, Mackinac Straits Health System and MidMichigan Community Health Services.
According to Lydia Watson, M.D., CPE, president and CEO of MyMichigan Health, “We are so pleased to partner with McKenzie Health System on clinical services and the EMR program to provide a resource that will benefit their hospital, providers, staff, patients, and community. One of the great benefits of having Epic is the continuity of the medical record between providers at McKenzie and MyMichigan specialists improving communication between providers for improved care. I look forward to collaborating and leveraging our combined expertise on quality, performance improvement, operations, and strategy to fulfill our purpose of creating healthy communities together.”
