Cottage Hospital chooses "a great core system,
especially for its flexibility"

Like many HMS customers, Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, NH, is a 25-bed critical access hospital. But while they may be a small neighborhood hospital serving the communities of the Upper Connecticut River Valley, thanks to the HMS system, they have all the technology to provide the same level of healthcare as any big facility.

"Our community residents were asking themselves, 'Where could I possibly go to find a medical facility that can provide state-of-the art, high tech healthcare?'," says Gary Tomlinson, director of information systems for Cottage Hospital. "And we want them to know that even if you are living in Landaff, NH, population 380, whether you need treatment for a chronic condition or immediate medical assistance for an accident, you can still receive advanced medical care close to home." For a moment, imagine yourself as a patient at Cottage Hospital needing:

- laboratory test. You are registered and sent to the lab for the test, but you carry no paperwork because all your medical information has been forwarded to the lab electronically. The test is administered and, within seconds, your lab results are recorded electronically into your medical record and immediately viewable by your doctor. Electronic forms and HMS Laboratory integrated with HMS Clinical View make it possible.

- an x-ray. Once the x-ray is taken, the image is available for viewing by a Radiologist in just minutes and could then be sent to another Radiologist thousands of miles away for another opinion. All your radiology images are digitally stored for retrieval within your electronic health record alongside transcribed reports. HMS Radiology Management makes it possible.

- an inpatient stay. Everywhere you go you encounter advanced technology which always places patient safety first. Your patient demographic information is entered once. The patient care you receive is charted online at the point of administration to allow immediate access, even remotely, by the appropriate clinicians. Your medications are administered correctly and on time with checks for adverse interactions. The integrated HMS electronic health record makes it possible.

We all want the best care available. What are your community's options when it comes to healthcare? With the help of HMS, Cottage Hospital is putting advanced healthcare technology within the reach of its community.

"For us, HMS has proven to be a great core system, especially for its flexibility," says Tomlinson. "HMS allows us access to all of our information, and as a result people are amazed at what this little hospital on the hill can do."