Internal Medicine Residency
University of Pittsburgh
Program Overview: Information Resources and Technology
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 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 access HSLS through the remote access UPMC network when off campus.
Residents are sure to find the resources they are looking for through the HSLS. Library staff members are trained to help you find what you seek, whether for research or patient care. On the off chance that a particular item is not available, the library staff will find a way to obtain it for you.
Resident Library
The Resident Library provides residents with 24-hour access to five 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
UPMC is nationally recognized as a leader in applying information technology to improve patient care and related customer service and business processes. Regularly named as one of the "100 most wired" health systems in the United States by Hospitals & Health Networks, UPMC has partnered with leading vendors, such as IBM and Alcatel-Lucent, to develop technology solutions that benefit health care providers and patients worldwide. Here are some highlights about the use of information technology at UPMC:
- UPMC has invested more than $1 billion in information technology over the last 5 years to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care.
- eRecord has more than 29,000 active users, including more than 5,000 physicians employed by or affiliated with UPMC, and comprises more than 3.6 million unique electronic patient records.
- Computerized physician order entry (CPOE), which improves the accuracy of medication administration, is employed at the UPMC facilities through which our housestaff members rotate.
- Our UPMC facilities use a positive patient identification (PPID) system to administer medications. This bar-coding system, which matches patients to their medications, has decreased the rate of medication errors at UPMC Presbyterian by 55%.
Access to the databases is simple because residents now have "single sign-on access," meaning that they use a single username and password for all of the systems involved in managing the health information of their patients. The Connect@UPMC system also allows the same level of access when residents are not on site.
The following systems are the main systems that we use to manage our patients at UPMC:
- Stentor, Inc.—This software program 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—The backbone of our inpatient electronic medical record (EMR), this is an electronic medical record management system that is used to review daily laboratory results and lab trends, current medication lists, electrocardiograms, and recent studies for patients. It allows clinicians to type their notes for patients, including histories, progress notes, discharge notes, and prescriptions, as well as computer order entries.
- Cerner Signout—This program was designed with our own in-house developers to create a seamless program that automatically synchronizes with PowerChart to better facilitate transfers of care and handoffs.
- MedTrak—This online resource offers up-to-the-minute contact information for all UPMC physicians (including residents), and it also offers on-call schedules, e-mail access, drug information, a physician directory, and other directories.
- EpicCare—This is the 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 EMR. 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 EMR has resulted in high-quality, low-cost health care with a high level of patient satisfaction. Patient waiting times have declined, while customer service has improved and access to care has increased because of the online availability of health information.
The VA's model system of EMRs, 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 EMR system through their work on inpatient wards and in continuity clinics at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.