Dear Editor:

I’m writing today to announce a great improvement in our care and to ask for your patience.

On April 2, LincolnHealth will go live with its new electronic medical record system known as SeHR. This new system is the culmination of years of careful planning and implementation by LincolnHealth clinical and non-clinical staff along with colleagues across the MaineHealth System. It also represents a financial investment in the health of our community as well. 

Why all the effort and expense? 

SeHR improves patient safety. With this new system there is a single medical record for every patient who uses our facilities, visits one of our providers, and uses any of the other medical centers in the MaineHealth System. Having a single record significantly improves communication by giving our providers instant access to all of their patient’s medical history. For example, if you had specialty care at Maine Medical Center, your primary care provider can now review the results immediately here in Lincoln County.

The new system will improve patient experience as well. SeHR not only provides our patients with convenient, online access to their own records, it eliminates the need to fill out repetitive medical history forms any time they need to see a specialist. 

Finally, a single electronic medical record is significantly more secure than paper documents. It’s difficult to monitor who is looking at hard copy medical records. Every record in the SeHR system is monitored for security and we can immediately identify who has reviewed it. 

The new system will allow us to be more efficient with your time. As of March 20, MaineHealth Patient Registration (in Portland) will begin calling LincolnHealth patients on the phone to preregister in the new system for their upcoming visits scheduled at LincolnHealth. This process will make check in more efficient, reduce wait times and help patients receive care on time. Preregistering also helps to make sure all the information we have on file is up-to-date and accurate.

Because the SeHR implementation affects every clinical department in our organization, some delays may occur in the first few weeks of April as everyone works to get up to speed. Should this happen, we would sincerely appreciate your patience during this transition.  

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at 563-4500.

Jim Donovan

President and CEO

LincolnHealth