BestCare News
Methodist’s Aortic Bundle Adopted by EpicCare Emergency Department Software
EpicCare is the third leading supplier of emergency department information system (EDIS) software to agree to hardwire thoracic aortic dissection into the differential diagnosis of chest pain in response to a joint appeal from Methodist Health System and Deb McMillan, mother of Tyler Kahle. Tyler was just 19 when he died of undiagnosed thoracic aortic dissection after coming to Methodist Hospital’s emergency department for treatment of chest pain. His tragic death is one of the estimated 15,000 annual fatalities due to aortic dissection.
The aortic dissection bundle was developed by Anton Piskac, MD, vice president of performance improvement for Methodist Health System. The bundle includes a series of prompts to consider aortic disruption as a cause of life-threatening pain among at-risk populations that can be incorporated into clinical decision software templates, helping physicians to identify patient populations at increased risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection and order appropriate tests.
At Methodist’s request, the organization’s EDIS provider, Cerner FirstNet, incorporated the aortic dissection bundle into its system for all clients. McKesson Horizon Emergency Care followed suit, and is incorporating the bundle into its next software update.
