Developing Digital Solutions for the Next Generation

In any community hospital, operational efficiency is essential. A lot happens between the time a patient first walks in the door from the time the hospital is later reimbursed for the care delivered. That’s why Orlando Suarez, the IT Director from Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami, Florida, says the survival of any organization lies in its ability to leverage the system you have and streamline processes where you can.

In a recent episode of "Health IT on the Record," a podcast presented by MEDHOST, Suarez detailed his experience working with MEDHOST a few years ago to implement a complete, paperless digital record. In addition to weighing the tradeoffs that occurred post-implementation between inter-generational staff and clinicians, Suarez underscored the importance of embedding flexibility into the process of implementation.

Specifically: How do you take into account the intangibles? How do you plan for what you don’t know is ahead?

For Suarez, part of the answer came down to Larkin’s choice of partner, MEDHOST.  When MEDHOST’s system went live, Suarez realized that some of Larkin’s behavioral health facilities weren’t fitting seamlessly into a system largely designed for serving acute care facilities.

“We took it upon ourselves to ask questions and tell them (MEDHOST) about the challenges we were having,” Suarez explains. “And like a good partnership, they listened.”

With MEDHOST as a trusted partner, Suarez says that Larkin was able to build a documentation system that streamlined the 146-bed hospital and simultaneously developed next-generation solutions for its 300 residents, highlighting the value of a flexible EHR solution.

Click here or below to listen the full episode featuring Suarez.

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“Health IT on the Record,” explores how innovations in health information technology impact every aspect of a health system, from multi-hospital networks down to individual patients.