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<br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: March 20, 2018 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-e <br /> <br />SUBJECT: University of North Carolina Health Care System Electronic Medical Record <br />System Access Agreement <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT: Health <br /> <br /> <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />UNCHCS EMR System Access <br />Agreement <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Quintana Stewart, 919-245-2412 <br />Rebecca Crawford, 919-245-2414 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />PURPOSE: To approve an agreement for $127,361 with the University of North Carolina Health <br />Care System (UNCHCS) to obtain the right for the Health Department to access and use <br />UNCHCS’s electronic medical records system, Epic Systems, as a better records system for the <br />Department over its current system and also make the Department compatible with UNCHCS. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: UNCHCS has invested in an electronic medical record system widely used in <br />the medical system at affiliated hospitals, the School of Medicine, UNC Faculty Physicians, and <br />a network of UNC-owned medical practices. UNCHCS has successfully used this electronic <br />medical record (EMR) system, Epic, to provide a unified, high quality standard of care not only <br />to Orange County but across the state of North Carolina. <br /> <br />UNCHCS and the Health Department have partnered on a multitude of projects from the Health <br />Department medical director, to behavioral health, to the Family Success Alliance. These <br />partnerships have bred the understanding that it would be an enormous benefit to Health <br />Department patients for staff medical providers to have access to Epic when caring for patients. <br />UNCHCS has made it possible for the Health Department to access the UNC version of Epic <br />called “Community Connect”, which will allow the Health Department to function as a standalone <br />entity with all of the technological benefits of a UNC-owned medical practice. <br /> <br />The attached contract for this partnership is for a three-year period and will cover all necessary <br />one-time licensing, annual maintenance fees, and technical support. <br /> <br />The Health Department anticipates $36,055 in annual maintenance fee cost savings with Epic <br />compared to the existing EMR system, Patagonia Health. In addition to County cost savings, <br />clients will receive access to the Epic client portal to make appointments, contact providers, and <br />view lab results, which they are unable to do with the existing EMR system. Epic will also allow <br />for HIPAA-compliant patient texting for appointment reminders, which will decrease the clinic no- <br />1