McKesson Corp. is installing its digital information system Horizon Clinicals at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry (NGH) in order to fully integrate all hospital departments and clinical areas.

The system will link physician practices, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, medical records, outpatient clinics, the emergency room, admissions, billing, scheduling and reporting, said Roxane Spitzer PhD, CEO.

All patient information will be consolidated into an electronic medical record, making it instantly available. Physicians and other authorized staff will be able to review and sign medical records electronically, and patients will have their requests for copies of their medical records filled more quickly, said McKesson.

"Horizon Clinicals will provide critical and 'real time' information about hospital inpatients, outpatients and patients at off campus sites," said Spitzer. For example, a computerized physician order entry system will provide clinicians with decision support during the medication ordering process. The system instantly flags known allergies, drug interactions or inappropriate doses.

In addition, the medications will be dispensed using automated medication cabinets. Nurses will use hand-held, bar-code scanning devices at the bedside to help ensure that the right patient receives the correct medication, in the proper dose and on time. The system also provides image archiving for radiologic and other diagnostic images.