KELLOGG — After 20 years of serving Shoshone Medical Center’s patients, the hospital logged on to a new records system earlier this month. 

SMC’s CEO, Paul Lewis, said the multimillion-dollar records system can synchronize between departments in one platform in a way the hospital’s past systems could not. 

“Part of the challenge that we had is we had about five standalone systems that we had grouped together, clinic records, ER records, inpatient records and so on, and all of these were separate. They didn’t communicate,” Lewis explained. 

The new records system is contracted through Oracle Health CommunityWorks, which will serve the hospital for at least the next nine years. 

With the change affecting every level of the hospital’s operations, staff hope to improve patient documentation and communication about care between departments and other health care providers using the same system. 

“It’s a big commitment. When we go through something this substantial, we’re committed to make this work really well, and we want to have a good long-term record system that’s going to be here for our community,” Lewis said.

Looking to the future, the hospital aims to expand access to care for the area, adding a nurse practitioner and third behavioral health counselor this summer. 

A specialized telehealth initiative is also in the works for Shoshone Medical Center.  

“We're starting to work on a telecardiology program with the Northwest Hospital Alliance,” Lewis said. 

The hospital plans to add elements to the new public-facing patient portal such as appointment reminders, appointment scheduling and online bill pay options, and streamline the preregistration process to reduce wait times before receiving care.