One year after merging dental health records into Epic Wisdom, a leading electronic health record software, MUSC is seeing positive impacts not only for patients but for graduates of the College of Dental Medicine as well. Epic Wisdom has created one central portal where oral health and general medical records are accessible to patients and their doctors, improving communication between providers while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.
A holistic overview of patient records
The goal behind the merge was to support patient-centered care in a precise, personalized, and comprehensive manner. In turn, it has created the potential to unlock better patient outcomes and increase the possibility to recognize and treat systemic diseases suspected in having a direct correlation with oral health.Evolved communication between providers
Epic also provides opportunities to securely communicate between practices with ease. The dental clinic on MUSC’s downtown Charleston campus has many dental specialists in one place, more so than anywhere else in the state. As such, many dentists in South Carolina will refer patients with complex cases, particularly if care involves multiple specialists. With the new system in place and patient consent, medical and dental providers are able to access notes from other practitioners. Good communication supports a safe transition back for the patient.
Students afforded unique experience in system implementation
Among dental schools, the college is an early adopter of integrated medical records. As such, students during this time had the opportunity to train on Epic Wisdom alongside the most experienced providers and care team members at James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. While students and residents are taught these systems, their participation in the implementation is an unusual and unique opportunity that will serve them in their careers.
“From an educational perspective, our students and residents will benefit from interprofessional interactions. This will lead to a better patient-centered, comprehensive approach for both dentistry and medicine. We also believe our students will find this interoperability to be the norm and we do so to prepare our students for the future of practice,” said Sarandeep Huja, D.D.S., Ph.D., dean of MUSC James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. The merge with Epic Wisdom has been a collaborative effort that is a testament to teamwork and the drive to excel within the college.
I truly believe that the transition to Epic has helped me become a better provider.
“The one-stop-shop allows for easy referrals between clinics, and for the ability to connect the whole body with the mouth. This is something that I believe I will take with me as I enter the private practice world because it has been engrained in our thinking process during our clinical years to provide the best care possible,” said Aparna Mahendranath, D.M.D., Class of 2025, whose clinical training took place during the implementation of the system. “I have really enjoyed having an integrated record system for our patients in the clinic. It allows me to be more comprehensive with my patients’ care while having direct access to any and all medical history that I may need to reference for my patients,” said Mahendranath.
