NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Health System’s new patient index system is going live this month with 2.7 million records. It means the patient records will be available anywhere throughout the extensive health systems hospitals and clinics.

Ochsner has taken the lead in rebuilding the healthcare system in the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and the region.

Ochsner acquired three New Orleans community hospitals. It has become bringing the State of Louisiana’s largest non-academic health system. It comprises 10 hospitals and 32 health centers.

Although Ochsner facilities have electronic medical records, which survived Katrina, integrating patient data from the new hospitals’ disparate management systems and attending to the population now returning home to the region have become even greater challenges.

Hospital administrators and staff knew the ability to identify and track patients throughout the expanded Ochsner would enable the health system to provide the highest level of care. In order to share and manage patient data, Ochsner tapped IBM and Initiate Systems to create an Enterprise Master Patient Index, or EMPI.

The project began in June and involved an initial load of 2.7 million records. This month Ochsner will go live with the integration, said Scott Harper, senior vice president and general manager Initiate Systems’ healthcare practice.