New London — The first week on the Epic electronic medical records system at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital went “extremely well,” though it was not a completely smooth transition, according to the hospital's information technology head.

Lisa Stump, senior vice president and chief information officer for the Yale New Haven Health System and Yale School of Medicine, said Friday that the changeover from L+M’s old system to the new one was successful overall, thanks to training and support staff in place for the transition. The $30 million system was installed by Yale New Haven as part of the Sept. 8 affiliation agreement that made L+M a part of the larger health network. The new system was activated on Jan. 20.

The main hangup in the system occurred the first time staff tried to access a patient’s records on the new system, and had to go back to the old system to retrieve key pieces of data, Stump said.

“It does feel a little cumbersome the first time you see a patient in the new system,” she said.

After the first time, however, accessing the records went much quicker, she said. There also were a few disruptions when printers and other equipment had not yet been synched with the new system, she said.

Employees said that overall, the hospital met the challenge of making the transition while continuing to deliver patient care around the clock.

Presidents of the three employee unions at the hospital said that even with the staff training and support staff, the conversion was a challenging process.

“The bottom line is that the change will benefit our patients in the long run,” Lisa D’Abrosca, president of the registered nurses’ union, Stephanie Johnson, president of the technologists’ union, and Harry Rodroguez, president of the health care workers’ union, said in a joint statement. “In the meantime, our members are committed to ensuring the least amount of disruption for them and their families.”

j.benson@theday.com