Milford Regional completes $18M digital record system

Photo | Grant Welker Milford Regional Medical Center

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By Grant Welker

Milford Regional Medical Center is now using for the first time one consistent electronic medical record system throughout the hospital and affiliated medical offices.

An $18-million upgrade — paused for a few months during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic — gives Milford Regional's health practitioners use of an electronic medical records system run by Westwood-based Meditech, a health technology company. The process took almost two years and went live on Oct. 1.

"It allows us to move into the future," said Nicole Thyne, Milford Regional's COO.

The hospital has had digital patient records in some areas since the late 1980s, Thyne said. Others, including the emergency department, went electronic about 14 years ago, and by 10 years ago, so did the ordering department. But different areas of the hospital were on different systems, meaning a patient may need to be asked by multiple clinicians what medications they're on, for example.

Milford Regional began looking for one consistent, upgraded system and made the decision late in 2018.

"Looking at alternatives didn't meet our satisfaction until the Expanse project came out," said Edward Kelly, Milford Regional's president and CEO, referring to Meditech's newest records system, which the hospital uses.

The hospital officials said the Expanse system will improve patient care, streamline work with vendors and generally improve technical capabilities with patient records. Staff training began in August, through online tutorials and training in classrooms and through Zoom.