University Hospital gives patients remote access to EMRs

SYRACUSE — Upstate University Hospital is rolling out a new system that will allow patients to view their electronic medical records (EMR) from a computer or smartphone.

The system, which the hospital calls Upstate MyChart, gives patients a password-protected account that they can use to access their EMRs. Patients will then be able to view their own medical histories, medicines, immunizations, on-site lab results, and physician’s notes from medical appointments.

Patients will also be able to schedule medical appointments and send messages to their physicians’ offices through Upstate MyChart. And patients can electronically request prescription refills using the system.

Upstate is launching the system today at its Family Medicine practice group and will expand it to cover all outpatients by the end of the year. The hospital will then extend the system to inpatient care. It will eventually cover 60 locations and 900 practitioners, including Upstate University Hospital at Community General.

“We have clinics all over Central New York, from Oswego, Fulton, to Auburn, all the way to Utica, Rome, and certainly into the Southern Tier,” says Dr. David Smith, president of the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University.

Upstate University Hospital, which is part of SUNY Upstate Medical University, used Epic Systems Corp., based in Verona, Wis., to design the system. It will spend $20 million to bring the system to outpatients and another $20 million to spread it to its inpatients, Smith says.

The hospital has hired 30 workers to get the system online, and Smith says it will likely have to add another 30 or 40 employees to make it available to all patients. Most of those new employees will be converted to support staff after the program is in place.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com