Chart Maintenance is Key to Patient Safety
Chart Hygiene – meaning, excellence in chart maintenance – is key to patient safety. As part of the RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH) and Rutgers Health Epic implementation and Safety Together Journey, we have an opportunity and the duty to manage patient charts more effectively.
The goal of practicing excellent Chart Hygiene is to:
- Improve provider and clinical care team efficiency and productivity
- Leverage inherent safety and quality features of the Epic EHR
- Enhance Patient Experience
- Reduce instances of preventable patient harm
Chart Hygiene Key Themes
Patient Safety “Zero Instances of Preventable Harm”
Good Citizenship “You and Me Together”
Available to Patient Through MyChart
Promotes Appropriate Payment
Provider Efficiency
New Policy/Regulation
Workflow
Urgency
Emily Halu
VP of High Reliability at RWJBarnabas Health
“Epic supports reduced care variation and reduces the likelihood that preventable harm will occur at our organization. When we have the reliable tools in the hands of a reliable workforce, we will truly be able to achieve zero harm. Practicing good Chart Hygiene is part of a High Reliability Organization because ‘keeping patient charts clean’ reduces instances of preventable harm such as medication errors and irrelevant diagnoses and encourages providers work together to achieve the goals of our organization”
RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH) and Rutgers Health
Commitment to Excellence
RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH) and Rutgers Health are implementing Epic as the single electronic health record (EHR)
across the system.
Epic will provide immediate availability of critical clinical data, active decision support, and enhanced patient safety. These benefits bring us closer to our RWJBH’s Safety Together goal of zero instances of preventable harm.
As part of our Safety Together Journey, we have an opportunity and the duty to manage patient charts more effectively.
A hygienic chart is:
- Accurate
- Up to date
- Free from unnecessary clutter, bloat, or “noise”
Chart Hygiene focuses on every step in the patient care process in Epic, from pre-visit workflows, through the rooming process, the provider visit, and even post-visit follow-through. It involves key themes, marked by symbols, to help you recognize important processes, protocols, policies, behaviors, technical workflows, and concepts throughout the patient chart maintenance process.