Big News: Coming Soon - Single EMR Transition at CAO

Published June 5, 2020

The past couple of months have proven to be the most challenging that we at The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics have faced as the world moves through the global pandemic of COVID-19. Dr. Levitt, Dr. Jossan and I are proud to lead this organization through each high and low that we encounter. We thank each of you for your hard work and dedication. 

We often speak of the concept of togetherness and moving forward together, as one. I am pleased to bring updates on another step in CAO’s path forward. After an extensive review process, we are pleased to announce that we have officially launched the implementation phase of the project to convert ALL CAO divisions to a state-of the art electronic medical records system. The EHR system is known as EMA (pronounced “Emma”) which stands for Electronic Medical Assistant.  EMA was developed by our new EHR partner — Modernizing Medicine.  

The implementation team consisting of team members from CAO’s Central Office, Divisions and Modernizing Medicine is working hard to make the conversion as smooth as possible.

Phase 1 (Alpha) Implementation

Thank you to the following divisions for agreeing to go first and “test drive” this modern EHR system:

  • Calvert Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
  • Montgomery Orthopaedics
  • Summit Orthopaedics
  • Orthopaedic Associates of Central Maryland
  • Potomac Valley Orthopaedic Associates
  • Anne Arundel Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • Prince William Orthopaedics, Hand Surgery & Sports Medicine
  • The Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Center

We anticipate that Phase 1 divisions will complete their transition by the end of October 2020.

Phase 2 and Beyond

Once the Alpha sites have been successfully converted and are smoothly operational with EMA, then and only then, will we roll out this EHR system to the remaining CAO sites. This will also be done in a phased approach, a few divisions at a time, to ensure that we have adequate resources and support team members for each of the individual divisions, their providers and staff.                 

The timeline will be developed with more specific dates after the “go-live” for the first eight divisions. You will receive more information from your Care Center Administrator as we get closer to transition for your division. No action is needed on your part until you hear from your Administrator regarding timeline for training and implementation.

There is no single step that we can make as an organization to strengthen our unity than to move to a single EMR platform. I ask each of you to approach this new tool with an open mind and patience as we will all be learning something new.

Thanks again for all that you do.