WMC moves towards completion of new $65M Electronic Health Information System
(Weirton, WV) – New information today from Weirton Medical Center (WMC) regarding the installation of the hospital’s new electronic health information system. WMC and Oracle Cerner began work in January on implementation of a new electronic health record that will connect all patient information and physicians across the WMC network. The system, CommunityWorks is in place in over 300 hospitals nationwide and part of a larger electronic health information system, Millennium, which is one of the leading health information platforms in the US.
Cristen Nopwaskey, WMC Chief Information Officer stated, “Our partnership with Oracle Cerner to install the CommunityWorks platform is a big undertaking, but we are really excited about the progress our team is making on the project. The entire organization is involved because the system will affect every part of our operation. The goal is to combine all patient health information into a single platform. This means, if you come to the emergency room or visit a WMC physician office, your provider will be able to immediately access all the information necessary to provide the highest level of care. It also will provide patients with real time access to all their medical information in a single step.”
John Frankovitch, WMC President added, “Often, physical construction projects like our current $10M emergency room expansion make the news because they are visible but this $65M investment in a new electronic health information system is one of the largest community investments WMC has ever made. Much of healthcare is driven off an electronic platform so we view this upgrade as crucial to moving into the next phase of community health development.”
Nopwaskey added, “One of the other advantages of this new system will be to help facilitate the care of a patient transferred to one of our tertiary partners like WVU Medicine. Even if those hospitals operate on another system, having our patient data available in a single step will make integration between systems much easier, resulting in better patient care.”
WMC expects the new Oracle Cerner CommunityWorks system to go live in late fall 2023.