Use of electronic health record and information technology in enhancing communication regarding ostomy care in an acute care setting

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can help improve the quality of care, enhance communication and care coordination, increase efficiency, and reduce costs of health care delivery. One of the priorities of our hospital is delivering efficient care to our ostomy patients.  In our hospital’s commitment to quality health care, we continue our seven-days-a-week Wound, Ostomy and Continence (WOC) nurse coverage in order to provide continuity of care to our patients.    Our adoption of a sophisticated EHR has also helped improve our efficiency. Using the EHR, our WOC nurses use a templated note when they mark a patient for an ostomy.  They also use an ostomy assessment template where they can click on drop-down choices and type additional notes.  There is also a templated note about what ostomy teaching points were covered with the patient and/or their family members.  Information about the ostomy support group that our facility hosts, as well as discharge instructions to home health agencies or post-acute facilities regarding the patient’s ostomy care are also included in our documentation.  In addition to the EHR, we also have a web-based document repository that our staff can access.  This repository contains information about ostomy care, such as how to treat peristomal skin denudation, and self-care information for ostomates.  With the use of the EHR and electronic document management, we have enhanced our communication regarding ostomy care to benefit our patients as well as to facilitate care coordination, and ensure continuity of high-quality care.