INSIGHTS
Objective
At Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH), clinicians were using Sunrise EHR, specifically Sunrise™ Acute Care, for all aspects of patient clinical documentation except for Oncology. Up until recently, they were documenting pediatric chemotherapy protocols for brain tumor patients on paper, which proved timeconsuming and inefficient, while also leaving room for potential errors. The staff at PCH and the Managed Services team wanted to achieve greater standardization, patient safety, consistency, and increased efficiency by implementing chemotherapy protocols directly into Sunrise Acute Care.
Increased facetime with patients while driving less office time.
Improved communication between staff members and families regarding chemotherapy administration.
Greater patient safety and less opportunity for documentation errors
Solution
Altera Managed Services, in conjunction with the talented IT staff at Phoenix Children's Hospital, got to work on implementing chemotherapy protocols that would make daily operations easier for oncology staff as well as for families. "A total of 16 protocols were built which consist of 33 treatment order sets and 31 roadmaps," said to Leslie Gates, Managed Services Expert Clinical Business Analyst. A couple of the workflows include notifications for the pharmacy stating when chemotherapy orders are to be released, and automated order selection based on dosing for patients using criteria like age, height, weight, etc.
"Before implementing chemo protocols, we had automated functionality within the system but there was still additional room for error when paper was used."
Rebecca Thomas
The collaboration between Phoenix Children's Hospital and Altera Managed Services has brought about a significant improvement in the facility's outlook of oncology and chemotherapy documentation.
"Having the ability for myself or any of our neuro-oncology providers to go into Sunrise Acute Care and put in a whole month's worth of chemo documentation saves time and increases efficiency."
Lisa Keller
About the Client:
Phoenix Children's Hospital
Phoenix Children’s Hospital is one of the fastest growing pediatric health systems in the United States. Serving Phoenix, Arizona, and many surrounding areas, the 40-year-old hospital continues expanding its reach across Arizona and is known as a world-class pediatric healthcare system. “To advance hope, healing, and the best healthcare for families,” Phoenix Children’s was named “Best children’s hospital” in 2024 by U.S. News and World Report—the 14th year in a row. Offering more than 50 specialties, this health system continues to grow, and in recent development, the leadership team recognized the need for a health IT partnership that could sustain its goal to continue supporting children and families in the hospital’s community.
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