Electronic Documentation

Our service is going to Electronic Documentation by Dec. 09, we are currently researching various software programs and hardware devices. Any comments pro & con on software or devices will be appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by David McKee on January 20, 2009 at 2:43pm

Our Department went to it back in September. There are times all of us would love to throw the "dang" thing out the window. Sometimes they work fine and other times they are a nightmare. We don't know if there are still "bugs" in the system or what. One of our members stated last night that he wished we had never gone to them.
One thing I would recommend is that you make sure everything is right with the system before you flip the switch. I'm not sure what our software is, I wasn't directly involved with the implementation. We are using Tough Books and they seem to be holding up very well.
David McKee- VA

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Permalink Reply by jason on January 22, 2009 at 11:07am

In my opinion zoll seems to be the best and easiest to use. We have found that the time at the hospital increases considerably with computer use unless you can start working on your report enroute. My other experience is with accumedweb and that is very difficult to work with. it is not user friendly does not work with dispatch software and is redundant in the information it requires. It also has to have a internet connection to be used which , at least in our service makes it impossible to fill in information before you get to the hospital.

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Permalink Reply by James Keats on January 24, 2009 at 9:13am

Hi Roger,

Our service here in Nova Scotia has gone to a fully electronic system from dispatch to patient care reports. The software for dispatching is visinet and the ePCR is Medusa I do belive. No matter what, lots of growing pains, and no it won't make things faster on the medics end, I don't feel in my opinion, but in the long run it's better as it streamlines alot of administrative things like billing and data tracking.

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Permalink Reply by greg morgan on January 26, 2009 at 2:09am

We are using tablets with handwriting recognition. They are from motion computing.I think the software is from Health EMS. They are blue tooth wireless though the ambulance. It took awhile to work out the bugs, but they seem pretty cool. Eventually they can record video or audio

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Permalink Reply by Rich Young on January 26, 2009 at 5:44pm

We researched ePCR for over a year and a half before deciding on which one to go with. Started with 6 or 7 programs, narrowed it down to three (EMS Charts, ImageTrend, & ESO) decided on ESO Solutions. Overall I'm really happy with it. We are running it on Xplore Tech (Dell) tablets. I'm not too happy with the tablets. That also seems to be where the bulk of our crew complaints come from. We implemented it late December and it seems the crews are starting to hit that "Eureka" point. Some still struggle, but for the most part I'm really impressed with how well they have managed to make the transition.

BTW, what's up Greg? It's been awhile. How's things in KC?

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Permalink Reply by Dawn G on January 26, 2009 at 6:11pm

My county has been using the AIM system (stands for Ambulance Information Management) from RAM Software out of Pennsylvania. We have been using it for several years, starting with just the billing, fleet maintenance, and continuing ed modules of the software. Around 4 years ago, we added the patient reports. The process of transitioning to electronic was slow, and we duplicated with paper for the first few months until we were sure everything was working properly. It took some time, but most of our county EMTs can do the run report faster on the computer faster than when they were hand written. The reports are also more complete and accurate.