The Riverwood Healthcare Center Board of Directors recently approved investing in the transition to a new electronic health record system, which has great strategic significance for the organization’s future.
“With the significant cost of the electronic health record transition, we needed to re-evaluate our two major construction projects,” said Riverwood Chief Executive Officer Ken Westman. “It simply was not fiscally responsible or feasible to proceed with three huge projects simultaneously. Our surgery project expansion is underway and will go forward as planned. However, we made the very difficult decision to halt planning for a new McGregor clinic at this time. We do not have an updated timeline for this project.”
Some factors influencing this decision included the inflationary impact of rising construction costs, rising interest rates for borrowing money, and the overall decline in investment income.
“While we will not be building a new clinic in McGregor at this time, we will be working with our providers and staff at the existing McGregor Clinic to make necessary updates and renovations in the months ahead,” Westman added.
The OCHIN-hosted Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) will replace the one now hosted by Allina Health with transition planning getting underway this fall and the new system to go live in January 2024.
OCHIN is in the top 4% of all Epic organizations for cutting-edge medical record use. The new vendor will allow Riverwood more flexibility in customizing its EHR and more agility in making strategic advancements and improvements in how it uses its EHR systems with patients.
“Although Riverwood will eventually move from Allina’s hosted EHR, Excellian, we will continue to work with Allina as a valued partner in a number of ways to deliver quality care to our patients,” Westman said. “As we remain committed to our organization’s independence, we must be able to adapt our EHR systems to meet patient expectations as marketplace healthcare innovations continue to disrupt and change the industry. Additionally, this digital technology change will enhance Riverwood’s ability to serve patients in a more responsive manner.”
