Lakeland Health Prevents Hemorrhages in Labor and Delivery

To improve patient safety for mothers during labor and delivery, Lakeland Health in Michigan used tools in Epic to help reduce hemorrhaging and quickly treat those who experience it. Their work to improve maternal health was recently recognized by the Healthcare Informatics 2017 Innovator Awards Program.

“These efforts… give care providers the right information at the right time, helping them make the right decision the first time,” said Tammy Jerz, RN, manager of patient care services at Lakeland. “Minutes can save lives, and we want to be ahead of the game every chance that we get.”

Lakeland Health used a variety of Epic tools to improve maternal health, including a risk assessment flowsheet to identify patients with a high risk of hemorrhage, more comprehensive order sets, and a template to quickly document obstetric emergencies. Of particular note was the Quantitative Blood Loss Calculator (QBL) they created, which helps nurses more accurately calculate the total volume of blood loss so they can identify hemorrhages sooner.

As of May 2016, 82% of obstetric patients at Lakeland Health had undergone a hemorrhage risk assessment and 98% had their blood pressure taken within 15 minutes of arrival. If a patient was found to have high blood pressure on arrival, providers were notified 100% of the time.

A similar program is available to new members of the Epic community in the Foundation System. New and existing community members can download the program here and have Epic staff install it as part of Epic’s Services.