Eastern Health System

Microsoft SharePoint Portal Solution Improves Policies & Procedures Processes for Healthcare Provider

Eastern Health System. is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system serving Jefferson, Blount and St. Clair Counties in Alabama. The System includes three major medical centers, as well as 12 primary care centers, and a wide variety of other health and healthcare related services. EHS needed a new corporate information system to provide more timely, up-to-date, and easily accessible information.

The company deployed Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies to create portals and Web sites where clinicians and staff can quickly post and access healthcare policy and procedures forms and information. Business leaders are using new data analysis capabilities to better analyze business performance and respond more quickly to changing healthcare plans and regulations. These improvements have resulted in more timely and appropriate care for patients, better informed clinicians, more efficient use of resources, and IT support cost savings.

“Microsoft SharePoint Portal has provided a solid framework on which to build a robust Policy and Procedure Maintenance System for our customers at Eastern Health System. This solution will greatly simplify the document review and publishing process, ensuring the hospital staff has instant access to current, detailed policies and procedures.”

– Pat Flint, Innovative Architects

Overview County or Region: United States Industry: Healthcare Customer Profile: Eastern Health System, Inc. is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system serving Jefferson, Blount and St. Clair Counties in Alabama. The System includes three major medical centers, as well as 12 primary care centers, and a wide variety of other health and healthcare related services. Business Situation: To improve staff productivity and patient care, Eastern Health System needed a faster and more accessible corporate policy and procedures forms and information system. Solution: With the help of Innovative Architects, EHS deployed Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies to create portals and Web sites where staff and clinicians can quickly post and access information. Benefits: More efficient, time-saving patient-care Savings in clinician time and patient expense More informed employees, clinicians More efficient performance measurement Improved policy and procedure review and approval process that assures compliance

Case Study Solution Policy and Procedure Online Application Saves Clinician Time and Patient Expense Paper-based formulary guides have been replaced by a frequently updated electronic version for every health plan they serve. Accessible through the Policy and Procedure Online Application, the new formulary saves many hours clinicians previously needed to read through individual plans. Clinicians can now quickly search hundreds of documents. The result is time savings for the clinician and cost savings for both the patient and Eastern Healthcare Systems Employees and Clinicians Are More Informed The healthcare industry is rapidly changing and highly regulated. The Policy and Procedure Online Application provides employees with information they need to improve skills while maintaining compliance with requirements and regulations. Previously, all such information would be disseminated by paper or e-mail, but the messages frequently went unnoticed in employees’ overcrowded inboxes. Now, with a fully searchable portal, employees can quickly find what they need online. Because SharePoint Server simplifies content management and integrates so tightly with Office, the user can easily manage content and keep sites current without IT involvement, thereby saving valuable time and resources. As sites are updated, those who need the information can be alerted automatically by using the Alerts features built into Windows SharePoint Services. IT Productivity Increased and Moving Forward The positive impact SharePoint Products and Technologies has on the company’s IT operations helps to eliminate the management of content, so managing the infrastructure and the tools is the focus. Users are enabled to actually update content directly so IT can move on to develop new sites and the new portal environment. Operational efficiencies derived from SharePoint Server help enable Eastern Healthcare Systems to reduce IT staff required for security and application access. No more having to manage access lists because it is all tied into Active Directory®, [a central component of Microsoft Windows Server™, operating system], so there is no longer the ongoing maintenance.” Technologies Microsoft Office System Microsoft Office is the business world's chosen environment for information work that provides the software, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact. Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Microsoft Office SharePoint Server enables enterprises to deploy an intelligent portal that seamlessly connects users, teams, and knowledge so that people can leverage relevant information across business processes to help them work more efficiently. Windows SharePoint Services allows teams to create Web sites for information sharing and document collaboration, benefits that help increase individual and team productivity.