Harrison Medical Center is “live.”

An Electronic Medical Records program launched at 7 a.m. Sept. 16 automates patient records, making them accessible to physicians anytime, anywhere. Rather than traditional pen and paper documents, information is kept, stored and tracked on an automated system.

The program is expected to be fully developed within a year-and-a-half.

“It was a very successful ‘go live,’” said Adar Palis, vice president and chief information officer. “Lots of positive response from the staff.”

Palis said the program is still in its early stages, with Harrison officials making patient safety and privacy the No. 1 concern.

“A lot of work has been done on security to make sure the system is bulletproof,” Palis said, explaining that anytime a system is automated, patients may worry about their information being stolen.

The new system is not only more efficient, taking the tediousness out of entering records manually, but it allows multiple physicians to view the records at the same time, helping doctors communicate with each other.

“It does take a lot human errors you might see out, they get eliminated,” Palis said. “Patient safety is another big thing.”

Palis said Harrison is leaping into the 21st Century and the EMR illustrates the direction health care is going.

“It’s the trend. Health care is going electronic,” he said.

And while the system is still new and the staff is getting acquainted with how it works, Palis is confident it will be successful.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for Harrison hospitals,” he said.