Sharp HealthCare and UC San Diego Health face electronic record integration challenges at newly affiliated hospitals, creating additional care coordination considerations for physicians.
Two major North County hospital partnerships are confronting electronic health record (EHR) integration challenges that could complicate care coordination for physicians treating patients across different healthcare systems.
Sharp HealthCare and UC San Diego Health began operating under new arrangements with Tri-City Medical Center and Palomar Health, respectively, on July 1. Both San Diego health systems use Epic EHR software, while their North County partners continue operating Oracle Health systems, formerly known as Cerner.
According to October reporting by the San Diego Union-Tribune and Becker's Hospital Review, the different platforms have complicated efforts to provide clinicians with access to patient records across the newly affiliated organizations.
Integration Will Take Time
Sharp assumed operations of Oceanside-based Tri-City Medical Center following approval of a 30-year affiliation agreement. However, Tri-City clinicians do not yet have direct access to Sharp's Epic records through a unified system.
Sharp Chief Information and Digital Officer Terri Couts told the Union-Tribune that Epic implementation at Tri-City is scheduled for the third quarter of Sharp's fiscal 2028.
Meanwhile, Sharp is developing interim measures, including expanded use of health information exchanges and improved communication between facilities.
UC San Diego Health faces similar challenges under its new joint powers authority with Palomar Health, which operates hospitals in Escondido and Poway.
UC San Diego Health CEO Patricia Maysent acknowledged difficulties transferring care between the organizations and indicated that full organizational integration could take at least five years. The health systems maintain separate licenses and medical staff.
Implications for Physicians
For independent and IPA physicians, incomplete EHR integration raises practical questions about access to medical histories, medication lists, test results, and specialist records when patients receive care across facilities.
Physicians may need to confirm which electronic records are available, use established health information exchange services, and arrange alternative methods to obtain missing clinical information.
Both health systems participate in efforts to improve information exchange, but different EHR platforms do not necessarily prevent all record sharing. The extent of current access varies according to available systems and workflows.
The reported difficulties do not establish that the transitions have caused patient injuries or medical errors.
For San Diego physicians, the immediate challenge is maintaining reliable clinical information exchange while the two hospital partnerships work toward longer-term integration.