Program Overview: Technical and Practical Resources

Health Sciences Library System (HSLS)

The Health Sciences Library System (HSLS) supports the educational, research, clinical, and service activities of the health sciences community of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

The combined resources of the four HSLS libraries total approximately 475,000 print volumes, including more than 200,000 monographs and 3,900 unique health sciences journal subscriptions. Remote access to more than 3,500 full-text journals and 4,400,000-plus electronic textbooks is also available. Users can access HSLS online resources from computers directly connected to the campus or UPMC networks, or they can request HSLS accounts for password access when they are off site.

Residents are sure to find the resources they are looking for through the HSLS system. Whether the resources are related to research, patient care, or something else, the library staff is trained to help you find what you are looking for through its immense information system. On the off chance that a particular item is not available, the library staff will find a way to get it for you.

Resident Library

The Resident Library provides residents with 24-hour access to 5 audio-enabled computers with full Internet access via the UPMC Network, as well as access to the VA computer system, a fully supplied copier and printer with no printing limits, and close to 100 medical texts. Because of the resources, spaciousness, and convenient location of the library, you are sure to find at least a couple of residents there during the day, reading, working on a research project, or just relaxing.

Information Technology

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has won numerous information technology awards. The American Hospital Association named UPMC one of the "100 Most Wired" health systems in the United States for eight consecutive years. CIO Magazine named UPMC a recipient of the 2005 CIO 100 Award. This annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology. The award theme was the "Bold 100," which recognizes organizations that embrace great risk for the sake of great reward. In addition, in 2005, InformationWeek Magazine ranked UPMC #1 in the country for health care institutions that are innovative users of information technology.

UPMC has tremendous, award-winning information technology resources for efficiently managing the medical records of our patients. This helps to reduce errors in medical care, and it makes life easier for clinicians. Residents are given full access to multiple patient information databases so they can effectively and efficiently manage their patients.

Access to these databases is simple because residents now have "Single Sign-On Access," meaning that there is a single username and password for all of the systems used to manage the health information of their patients. Furthermore, there are numerous computer terminals in all intensive care units, on all wards, in all clinics, and in all call rooms throughout the UPMC complex.

The following systems are the main systems that we use to manage our patients at UPMC:

• Medical Archival Systems, Inc. (MARS)—This is an electronic medical record of all dictated and transcribed patient visits and studies, patient demographic information, laboratory studies, and past medication administrations. It features a sign-out program that allows housestaff members to print sign-out sheets containing brief histories, medications, and to-do lists for each of their patients, thereby enhancing communication between primary and "covering" physicians. This system is accessible from home via the Internet.
• Stentor, Inc.—This is a program that digitally stores all radiologic and nuclear imaging studies, including MRIs, CT scans, sonograms, and V/Q scans. The program is available on all terminals throughout the hospital, eliminating the need to go to a "special terminal" in a certain location to view radiographic studies or the need to go to the Department of Radiology to view a hard copy.
• PowerChart—This is an electronic medical record management system that is used to review daily labs and lab trends, current medication lists, EKGs, and recent studies for patients. It allows clinicians to type their notes for patients, including histories, progress notes, discharge notes, and prescriptions.
• Access Anywhere—This is a program that interacts with the Department of Medical Records. Currently, all paper files in a patient's chart are photocopied and stored digitally on one of UPMC's servers. This program allows clinicians to easily access all handwritten notes, orders, and other data in photocopied form. Like all UPMC programs, it is accessible from any terminal in the hospital. It is a great tool for reviewing the patient's medical record in detail. It also prevents the clinician from having to go to the Department of Medical Records and pull a patient's chart to take care of the occasional missed or forgotten dictation...oops!
• Physician Portal—This online resource on UPMC's intranet offers up-to-the-minute contact information for all UPMC physicians (including residents), and it also offers on-call schedules, email access, drug information, various announcements, a physician directory, and other directories.
• EpicCare—This is the electronic medical record (EMR) used by outpatient clinics at UPMC. It is one of the most successful ambulatory EMRs in the health care information technology industry, with proven features that streamline care processes, improve community-wide health, and strengthen the patient-provider relationship. Residents and faculty at UPMC use this system in their continuity clinics to document patient-physician encounters and to order medications, laboratory studies, and radiologic imaging.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a national leader in information technology when it comes to managing the medical information of VA patients. The real flagship of the VA's computer system is the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). The CPRS is an integrated, comprehensive suite of clinical applications that work together to create a longitudinal view of each veteran's electronic health record (EHR). CPRS capabilities include a real-time order checking system, a notification system to alert clinicians to clinically significant events, and a clinical reminder system. As health care costs in the United States continue to soar, the VA is reducing costs and errors while increasing safety and efficiency and becoming the model for what modern health care management and delivery should look like. The complete adoption of the EHR has resulted in high-quality, low-cost health care with high patient satisfaction. Patient waiting times have declined, while customer service has improved and access to care has increased because of the on-line availability of health information.

The VA's model system of EHRs, developed with extensive involvement of front-line health care providers, has won the prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award." The annual award, sponsored by Harvard University's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government and administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government, honors excellence and creativity in the public sector.

Residents in our program are given full access to the VA's EHR system through their work on inpatient wards and in continuity clinics at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center.

Ancillary Services

All UPMC sites and the VA Medical Center have full ancillary services 24 hours a day. These include patient transportation teams, electrocardiography technicians, and phlebotomy teams to draw blood for routine labs and blood cultures and to start IVs. These services allow housestaff to concentrate on education and patient care.