Enhancing VA workflows with new EHR: Transforming medication administration

At VA, even small improvements in the medication administration process can have a major impact on patient safety and care. That's why the department has long invested in technology that helps clinical staff deliver medications to Veterans more accurately and efficiently.

For almost 30 years, VA has used a combination of the Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) system and the Computerized Patient Record System (CRPS) to support medication administration. Now, the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) is uniting these functions into one system, enhancing the core safety and quality measures that BCMA first introduced.

With two separate systems, BCMA and CPRS, nurses must switch back and forth to obtain the information necessary for decision-making that occurs during medication administration. Toggling between the two systems can require more than 15 mouse clicks before a nurse can give a medication to a Veteran, slowing down the process and taking valuable time away from direct patient care.

One of the benefits of the Federal EHR is how it improves workflows across the board, including a transformation of the medication administration process.

"Within the Federal EHR, it takes approximately two clicks to open the medication administration wizard from PowerChart and scan the patient ID to administer medications. Decreasing mouse clicks has been demonstrated to return time back to the care of Veterans," said Dr. Toni Phillips, chief nursing informatics officer for the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office (EHRM-IO). "Beyond medication administration, the Federal EHR also offers seamless integration of orders, labs and multiple providers' notes into a single platform. This eliminates the need for toggling between separate systems."

Phillips also emphasized how the improvements fit into the larger picture of the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program.

"The example of reducing mouse clicks from more than 15 in BCMA to just two in the Federal EHR medication administration wizard highlights the broader goal of EHRM: to streamline workflows, minimize documentation burden and integrate data into a single system. This change directly contributes to improved clinical efficiency, improved clinical decision-making and safer patient care. It also reflects EHRM's mission to modernize systems to enhance the clinical experience and permit increased time to be dedicated to Veterans."

The transition to the Federal EHR is founded on continuity, improved interoperability, reduced operational burden and enhanced capacity for modernization. With each new Federal EHR deployment, there's more time to focus on what matters most: caring for Veterans.

For more information and resources, visit the EHRM website.