Simplified Nursing Documentation in Epic: Recent Care Plan Updates

The Care Plan tells the patient’s unique story, reflects their progress, and serves to coordinate care. The most recent 2019 Epic updates brought new features that streamline nursing documentation, including:

1. Care Plans now include universal goals that apply to all patients!
2. Caregivers only add the relevant goals that apply to the specific patient. Each goal includes its own easily-adjusted expected end date.
3. New goals for comorbidities are available. This is best used for those problems being actively managed, but that are not the primary reason for admission.

The above enhancements help to reduce the care planning documentation burden for staff while telling the patient’s interdisciplinary story and meeting regulatory requirements.

For full “Tips and Tricks” related to Care Planning, please refer to the Epic Learning Resources.