Ruby Has Arrived!

It’s official – we’ve flipped the switch!  Just minutes after midnight on July 14, St. Mary’s Hospital made the leap to an electronic medical record.  So, what does this mean for you as a patient or visitor?  Over the next few weeks, you may notice that more employees are on hand to help care for your during your visit.  There may be slight delays as our nurses, technicians and medical staff members work to properly enter your information on our new computer system.  Your safety is our top priority and we want to ensure that you receive the best care possible.  This is an enormous undertaking and we certainly appreciate your patience as we undergo this exciting transition.

Who is Ruby?
No one knows more about our patients than Ruby does.  Not only can she remember when a patient last visited, but she can recall x-rays, test results and medications in the blink of an eye.  No, she’s not a doctor, but she is the newest and most advanced electronic medical records system available.

Over the past two years, St. Mary’s Hospital has worked closely with the Cerner Corporation to create Ruby, a comprehensive set of software programs designed to enhance patient care and improve safety.  This new system will allow physicians to view patient records at the touch of a button from anywhere in the hospital and even in some local doctor’s offices. Working side by side, our employees and medical staff have developed the features they’ll need to ensure that patient information can be safely stored and retrieved by medical professionals.

How Will Ruby Work?
To understand how the system works, let’s look at how Ruby will be used on a sample patient.  A woman comes into the Emergency Care Center complaining of pain in her abdomen.  As she discusses her symptoms and current medications, a nurse enters the information into a computer containing the Ruby software.  Soon afterwards, a physician evaluates her and a CT scan is performed.  As soon as the results are received, they are entered into Ruby and are immediately available for her doctor to review.  Seconds later, the physician can visit a computer terminal anywhere in the hospital, pull up the patient’s chart, evaluate the scan and prescribe a course of treatment.  Ruby reminds the doctor of the patient’s current medications and recalls any other notations that have been made in the meantime.  The patient is quickly given her results and her options for care. 

An Advocate for Patient Confidentiality
At St. Mary's Hospital, we understand how important your personal health information is.  That’s why we’ve taken the utmost care in designing a medical records system that works to protect your most confidential data.  Because the system is a network of programs, it cannot be removed from the hospital.  Therefore, patient information remains safely hidden and is only supplied on a need-to-know basis.   We’re proud to bring this technology to Southern Maryland residents!