Nashville General Hospital announced this week that it is using Oracle Health technology.
Nashville General Hospital at 1818 Albion Street, on Meharry Medical School’s campus
Photo: Courtesy of Nashville General Hospital
The Oracle Health CommunityWorks program offers centralized electronic health records and automates several manual processes in clinical, financial and operational actions, according to a press release. The cloud-based model is geared toward smaller hospitals and allows information sharing between clinics and departments.
“We chose Oracle Health because it offered a more complete and integrated solution versus the other options we considered,” said Melanie Thomas, Nashville General Hospital chief information officer.
“We are replacing several disparate systems that required redundant data entry, disrupted our operations during upgrades, and lacked integration between our inpatient and ambulatory systems. These challenges are now solved with Oracle Health, and it will help us achieve ‘one patient, one record’ across our facilities. When reviewing all vendor options, we wanted our employees to have a say in the selection.”
Nashville General Hospital is the city’s safety net hospital. Located at 1818 Albion St., the hospital has 150 beds as well as several clinic locations. Earlier this year, Nashville General opened aBordeaux clinic. Plans for a new main location for the hospitalhave stalledover the past several years.
VUMC, Tennessee Department of Health launch dementia program
Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Tennessee Department of Health have launched a program to educate health care providers on dementia.
Tennessee Dementia ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Program will use remote lectures to teach providers to care for individuals with dementia and improve early diagnosis. The program is part of a statewide initiative that started in 2021 through the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act.
“Dementia is a public health crisis that affects families and communities across Tennessee every day,” said Ray Romano, nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center.
“By expanding our outreach through the Tennessee Dementia ECHO, we are democratizing dementia care knowledge, empowering providers to deliver high-quality care, and improving outcomes for patients.”
HCA names ethics lead
Nashville-based hospital giant HCA Healthcare has named Wendy Warren to the role of senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer.
She succeeds Kathi Whalen, who is retiring from the role after 27 years and who also served as chair of HCA Healthcare’s Sustainability Steering Committee.
Warren has worked for HCA for 10 years, most recently having served as vice president and associate general counsel for Parallon, HCA’s administrative support platform.
Warren earned her undergraduate degree from Fisk University and her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas School of Law.
“Wendy has demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic insight and an unwavering commitment to support our efforts of improving more lives in more ways,” said Mike McAlevey, executive vice president and chief legal and administrative officer for HCA Healthcare.
“I am confident her leadership will help our ethics, compliance and regulatory department continue to uphold high standards of integrity.”
