Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Mayo Clinic initiative to create a truly integrated electronic health record system has reached a major milestone.

Mayo today announced it has implemented the new Epic system at Mayo Clinic Health System sites in Wisconsin. The implementation of the new system began last weekend and is scheduled to occur at Mayo Clinic Health System sites in Minnesota in November. The conversion of the Rochester campus is slated to take place next May, followed by the Mayo campuses of Arizona in Florida in October of next year.

The Epic system will replace the three electronic health records currently used by the Mayo Clinic and was built to meet the specific needs of the Rochester-based health care giant at a cost of around $1 billion.

“Having an integrated electronic health record across all of our sites can help us with our core mission of meeting patient needs,” says Steve Peters, M.D., chief medical information officer, Mayo Clinic. “It’s taking the best practices of Mayo Clinic to benefit all patients at all sites – converging on a common set of tools and bringing the best of Mayo Clinic to each patient’s care.”

They Mayo Clinic statement says over 51,000 Mayo employees will have to be trained to use the new system as the implementation process moves forward.

More From Fun 104