How Technology Supports Patient Care at Gilchrist

From Electronic Records to AI-Driven Tools, Technology Enhances Compassionate Care

At Gilchrist, our mission is to provide the highest quality hospice, palliative, and geriatric care, supporting patients and families with compassion and dignity. Behind the scenes, technology plays an essential role in helping our teams deliver seamless, patient-centered care—whether in a patient’s home, one of our centers, or out in the community.

Leading Gilchrist’s efforts to integrate and advance technology is Jill Stewart, Associate Director of Epic Solutions and Support Services. Under her guidance, platforms such as Epic, Epic Rover, Medline, E3Pro, Qualis, eMedical, MyChart, and an emerging ambient listening program are helping to make patient care more seamless, efficient, and connected.

Epic: The Foundation of Care Coordination

Gilchrist uses Epic, one of the most widely used Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems in the country. Originally developed for hospitals, Epic has expanded its capabilities to support hospice and palliative care providers like Gilchrist.

“Epic allows all members of the care team—from nurses and social workers to chaplains and grief counselors—to document and view patient records in real time,” says Jill. This coordination ensures that every care team member has access to the most up-to-date information, improving safety, reducing duplication, and ensuring continuity of care.

Epic Rover: Care at Your Fingertips

To meet the needs of field staff, Gilchrist utilizes Epic Rover, a mobile app designed to provide caregivers with everything they need while on the go. Available on smartphones, Rover allows staff to view patient charts, document care, access medications, view addresses with integrated GPS, and even track mileage and time.

“Rover puts everything at the clinician’s fingertips,” says Jill. “It’s streamlined documentation, increased accuracy, and reduced paperwork—and features like secure messaging and wound photography allow instant communication with physicians.”

Gilchrist is also rolling out new features like dictation within Rover, enabling staff to speak their notes rather than type them, saving hours each day and improving efficiency. According to Epic data, “Home Care Aides now spend 15% less time driving and complete 2,600 more home visits each year.”

Medline, E3Pro, and Qualis: Streamlining Supplies, Medications, and Equipment

Behind the scenes, Gilchrist’s staff use several integrated apps to support patient care logistics:

• Medline allows staff to easily order medical supplies like wound care kits or catheters.
• E3Pro connects directly to Enclara, Gilchrist’s hospice pharmacy, enabling nurses to order and refill prescriptions electronically.
• Qualis is the system used to order Durable Medical Equipment (DME) like beds, oxygen tanks, and wheelchairs—ensuring patients have what they need at home without delay.

These tools reduce administrative burdens and help ensure timely delivery of essential items, keeping the focus on patient care.

eMedical: Secure Communication with Physicians

When staff in the field need quick input from physicians, they use eMedical, a secure chat platform that allows nurses and social workers to send real-time messages to doctors. This allows for rapid decision-making, such as medication adjustments or eligibility determinations, all while keeping communications secure and HIPAA-compliant.

MyChart: Empowering Patients and Families

MyChart, Gilchrist’s patient and family portal, gives families access to their loved one’s information at any time—from medication lists to visit schedules. “There’s so much functionality already available in MyChart, and we hope more families will take advantage of it,” she says.

New Pilot Program: Ambient Listening for Physicians

Gilchrist is also piloting cutting-edge technology with its physicians and nurse practitioners—ambient listening tools that automatically capture and draft clinical notes during patient visits.

Using a microphone, the technology listens to the conversation, filters out small talk and filler words, and produces a clean, accurate medical note. “It’s unbelievable,” Jill says. “It has reduced documentation time by about 30%, letting our providers focus more on the patient and less on the computer.”

Embracing Technology to Enhance Compassionate Care

At Gilchrist, technology isn’t about replacing the human connection—it’s about enhancing it. By reducing paperwork, streamlining logistics, and enabling secure, efficient communication, these tools help our teams spend more time where it matters most—with patients and families.

“The end goal is always better patient care,” says Jill. “And the technology we have—and what’s coming—is only going to help us do that even better.”

To learn more about Gilchrist, visit: https://gilchristcares.org/