RHS getting ready for new system

CRESCO - As the final step of Regional Health Services of Howard County’s new affiliation of Avera Health, the facility is currently transitioning its electronic medical system to better support patient care. 

The new system will consolidate all of a patient’s information into one record, improving the ability to store and share  medical history with a RHSHC care team. This system will also offer new benefits, such as an online portal, where patients can see their upcoming appointments, lab results, message the care team and more. 

RHSHC CEO Robin Schluter explained, “We’ve been working on this for over a year. We are ‘flipping the switch’ on April 1. We have been running the old system and the new system at the same time for a while to make sure it transitions well.”

She said there have been over 80 personnel of Avera working on the project. On April 1, there will be an incident command of Avera IT on site at Cresco, Elma and Lime Springs.

“We’ve been having regular meetings, and when we transition over, we will have meetings three times a day to make sure there are no issues,” Schluter added. “This will continue for two weeks”

For the near future, patients will need to verify their insurance, addresses and medications. This is for everyone’s peace of mind to know that all the information is correct going forward.

“We also want to have everyone to talk to a staff about the patient portal. We can do so many things in there. This includes sending electronic messages to nurses and doctors, see lab results and more. It puts the patient in a direct interface with healthcare information.”

After April 1, patients can set up an appointment to get hooked up with the Averachart portal. Patients or family members must call 1-855-667-9704 to set up an appointment for the portal.

The CEO considers this project the biggest transition the hospital and clinic will ever do. Everything is being changed and updated — billing, coding, labs, imaging (radiology), the financial system, e-mails and phones.

E-mails may be one of the biggest adjustments for the public. On April 1, the old e-mails will not work and new ones will need to be used. They will be first name.last name@RHSHC.com. There will be absolutely no overlap.

Schluter said the organization is excited for this new chapter. “I’ve told people we get excited for spring. It’s rainy. It’s muddy. Its footing may be unstable. But we’re excited for spring. It is the pathway to summer.

“We know making this change will be different. But it will improve the quality of care and the quality of life for our patients and our team. So . . . we’re looking toward summer.”

RHSHC is excited to implement this new technology to better serve patients and the community. “We’ve been working on this project for a long time and are happy to see it come to fruition,” Schluter  declared.