Matrix eMAR Case Study

Pine Medical Health Care Center has realized more efficiencies and staff satisfaction with the implementation of Matrix eMAR and Matrix Point of Care

When asked what features of Matrix eMAR are most valuable to staff, Angie Landis, Staff Supervisor at Pine Medical Health Care Center, exclaimed, "Everything!" Pine Medical Health Care Center, a 60-bed skilled nursing facility in Sandstone, Minnesota, started using Matrix, a Web-based clinical and financial software system, in October 2010 when they implemented Matrix Accounts Receivable. Seven months later, the clinical staff went live with Matrix Clinical, Point of Care and eMAR. Matrix eMAR provides the capability to electronically document medications and treatments as they are administered resulting in fewer administration errors, improved efficiencies and compliance and reduced costs.

Improved efficiencies and staff satisfaction

Pine Medical Center is not a stranger to eMAR technology since utilizing it with their previous software. However, since implementing Matrix eMAR and Matrix Point of Care, the facility has realized more efficiencies and staff satisfaction. Mary Beth Kester, Systems Analyst, says that when she walks around to check in with staff, "I see a lot more smiling faces and more time being spent on resident care," she states. "What used to take two hours each shift for documentation, now takes 30 minutes and documentation is more accurate. As I.T., I am no longer spending time fixing problems but instead, doing the administrative things I want to do."

"From the resident photos to the color-coded statuses to the user-friendly navigation, Matrix eMAR is very intuitive," says Landis. "Using our previous software, going from resident to resident meant four different clicks. With Matrix eMAR, we can move to another resident with just one click." Residents are color-coded by status. Late administrations are red, due tasks are green and white background with "task" indicates the resident doesn’t have any outstanding administration but follow-up is needed. "The automatic prompt for PRN medication follow-up has significantly improved accuracy. That wasn't a feature of our other system, so staff had to have an excellent memory or we used a lot of post-it-notes," states Landis. "With Matrix eMAR, follow-up can't be missed as the PRN reason must be completed before administration and PRN result must be completed after."

The interaction and automation between Matrix Orders and eMAR is a huge efficiency gained over what Pine Medical was used to with their previous technology. When orders are entered in Matrix eMAR, the integrated drug library prompts safety alerts for food/drug interactions, duplicate drug, ingredient or therapy, drug-to-drug and drug-to-condition interactions. "The drug dictionary is extensive with the majority of medications included, and the alerts are much more visible in Matrix eMAR than our previous system, allowing for safe administration to our residents," according to Landis.

Powerful reporting functionality helps facilitate physician adoption

The reporting capabilities of Matrix eMAR include the standard MAR/TAR reports, compliance auditing and status reports. "The layout of the physician order reports is so easy to read and clearly states what medications were ordered and dose etc.," says Landis. "We have seen a complete difference in our physician adoption with this eMAR system. It used to be that they wanted us to print everything out to review and sign. Now, they are logging into the system to access the reports creating much more efficiency."

This example of user adoption extends throughout the staff, even for those who aren't computer savvy. A staff member who spent countless hours of her own time to work in the test environment of their previous system, and still struggled, learned Matrix eMAR within the first two hours of training and started training other staff that afternoon. Pine Medical Center staff learned as they came on to their shift and spent only two days of training, one day for the main Clinical modules and one for Point of Care and eMAR as the software is that intuitive. Landis was so confident in her staff using Matrix that she left on a vacation two weeks after implementation. This compared to 18 months of preparation for the implementation of their previous system and 3 months of follow-up.

Positive experience with MDI Achieve

"We cannot say enough positive things about Matrix, Matrix eMAR and MDI Achieve in general," says Kester. "The implementation staff was knowledgeable and friendly and the customer service is outstanding." Landis adds, "We hear back right away if we do have any questions and even if we don’t get the correct person, they usually know the answer."