Appropriate and efficient provision of services at home requires more than skilled personnel; effective communication between the primary care provider and the agency is an often overlooked but essential tool for maintaining the patient's health in the community. A method was developed to create home care orders (the “e-485”) that guides the physician through the order writing process, uploads data from the electronic medical record, and creates a legible, complete order set that can be faxed quickly to the agency. This paper describes this tool and the challenges and rewards of its implementation in an academic medical center.
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Eugenia L.Siegler, MD is affiliated with the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology , Weill Medical College of Cornell University .
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Christopher M. Murtaugh , PhD, Robert J. Rosati , PhD, and Theresa Schwartz , BA are affiliated with the Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York .
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Sally Sobolewski, RN , MSN is affiliated with the Department of Quality Care Management, Visiting Nurse Service of New York .
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Renee Razzano, MA, and Mark Callahan, MD are affiliated with the Department of Public Health, Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
