St. Edward?s Doctors Test PDAs in Lab Coats

Sixteen doctors at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith are dressing for success these days. They’re part of a pilot group for the Cerner Millennium Mobile system, using personal digital assistants (PDAs) they can carry in a lab coat pocket to record patient information.

The doctors can walk into the 952,814-SF hospital and retrieve and download patient information and clinical data with the technology’s wireless connection options. The PDA enables them to access patient information anywhere in the hospital during rounds by synchronizing with the hospital’s clinical information systems. After the synchronization, the PDA has the physician’s patient list and can display laboratory and X-ray results and dictated physician reports.

Chip Paris, a spokesperson for the hospital, said the goal is for St. Edward to eventually become paperless. One patient chart, he said, can result in “a large collection of paper” that doctors can’t possibly carry with them and access at any time.

There is no dollar estimate yet for what the likely capital investment for PDAs will be because two groups of physicians are testing different devices. St. Edward will determine which works best and develop a plan for its use.

“This technology gives me more freedom and flexibility,” said Dr. Allen Beachy, a physician participating in testing. “Basically, I’m carrying important parts of my patient’s chart on my PDA. I have ready access to important and sometimes critical patient information virtually anytime and anywhere within the walls of the hospital.”

The PDAs will likely be offered to all 225 St. Edward doctors following the pilot project, and the technology could expand to other personnel within the hospital system, such as nurses, Paris said.

St. Edward Mercy is a member of the Sisters of Mercy Health System based in St. Louis. It completed a $70 million expansion in July that added 600,000 SF to its Fort Smith facility.