An Epic implementation, within a single hospital or across multiple sites, is usually the largest endeavor that an organization will take on.
To ensure a smooth Epic implementation, HCI will work with your team to review and manage operational risks within your IT program. Engaging as early as the project planning phase, HCI will collaborate with you to identify potential problem areas, in order to mitigate possible risks by setting accurate expectations and defining change management processes. We will incorporate mitigation strategies into the project plan, monitor risks during each phase of the implementation, and establish communication processes for making the appropriate adjustments.
Because implementations have many working parts, it is critical to have a streamlined process that is effectively communicated and executed. HCI’s representatives will fully immerse themselves in the project to ensure collaboration while tracking your implementation.
Establish an Effective Epic Implementation Team
The right resources at the right time assure implementation and long-term EHR success.
Establish and Communicate Epic EHR Goals and Priorities
Establish an organization-wide vision to promote the value and objectives of the Epic implementation, both immediate and long-term, and communicate that vision for full organizational support.
Establish Epic Implementation Strategies
Make the most of lessons learned from similar organizations, determine the different phases of implementation, clearly define scope and budget, and create an achievable implementation timeline, without jeopardizing success.
Establish Governance
A mix of resources, including Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and key users, must be involved in the various implementation phases, in order to identify key planning issues.
Vendor Planning Meetings
Create an alliance with Epic to support the organization’s goals and approach using milestones, internal resources, external resources, and the resources of the Epic implementation team to ensure project success.
Detailed Epic Implementation Plan Document
Document the detailed list of implementation phases that are the responsibilities of both the organization’s Epic implementation team and the vendor’s team, and establish benchmarks to measure project success.
This phase of the project has a long duration and begins during the discovery or pre-work phase. Phase 1 continues until the formal implementation of training deployment when proficiency is measured and attendance is tracked.
During this phase, we gather and share information with operational and IT leadership stakeholders as well as potential credentialed trainers, super users and end users. The tasks and events in this phase are aimed at setting a clear plan with stakeholders we can jointly execute on. The desired result is for end users to gain exposure to the new technology within the context of their workflows. These activities are aimed at ensuring awareness so that changed behavior accompanies a new technology occurs prior to the beginning of formal learning.
This phase covers why that needs to proceed how.
The implementation phase begins with train-the-trainer sessions and ends when the end users begin to use the technology on the job for the first time, i.e., on Go-Live day. With our large Epic implementation training programs, critical success factors include:
Ranked as best-in-KLAS provider for go-live support, HCI offers cost effective solutions for healthcare organizations to train and execute your Epic go-live successfully. Using our in-depth knowledge of Epic we offer cost effective solutions for healthcare organizations to train and activate Epic successfully.
Our leaders are experts in Epic go-live project management and delivery. Our go-live support team brings a track record of success using the best known national and international standards. Our onsite project lead is there to ensure an effective and seamless adoption of Epic, one that will be viewed by the client's clinicians and staff as both high quality and successful. Central to our methodology is that we engage early in the go-live planning with the client's project leaders. To accomplish this, we begin on our first project planning session and review closely every aspect of your go-live activities. This includes—but it by no means limited to—the following key strategic areas of activation:
Epic Command Center Planning:We review your approach to command center layout, role/duties for command center leaders, Epic ticketing intake, ticketing software as well as your process for ticketing resolution and complex ticket escalation. HCI will engage with local project managers to assist with incident management ticketing process and help coordinate the design and functionality of the Epic command center.
HCI leaders carefully review appointment conversation plan and potential needs for staffing manual conversions. If additional support for manual conversions is necessary, we can attempt to time the on-boarding process for external resources prior to activation to assist the conversions team.
It is important that HCI Leadership meets with site administrators early in the engagement process. It is important to review first-hand the geographic layout of sites going live and assess the number of end users and support type (Front Desk vs Nursing vs Provider) that will be working in each area. In addition, this time allows us to build relationships with site administrators and ensures we gather our assessment data directly from the source.
A thorough Epic 'At the Elbow' support assessment requires HCI leadership to understand how you organized your super user program. What initiatives did you design to help make your super users, super? Additionally, we will look to understand of exactly who and where each super user is assigned to work during go-live. HCI leadership supports Epic's model of a 6:1 ratio but in many instances augments this to ensure that acute areas or areas with greater training needs are adequately supported. A super user by Epic’s definition is dedicated 100% to At Elbow Support during go-live. If this is not the case, we will need to map out where and exactly how much support each individual is capable of providing.
As part of our approach to go-live, we need to uncover your existing plans to support operational/workflow dress rehearsals, we will want to work with your teams internally, assess what has been complete thus far, make adjustments and begin planning for delivery with project coordinators. We will work with your team to build a strategy that focuses on quality and provides a good experience for end users in each department.
Our emphasis is on quality. We want to ensure that we cover every conceivable detail as we prepare and deliver your Epic go-live. We will focus our efforts to bring the client exceptional talent from around the industry and will ensure we prepare these individuals with a specialized orientation.
Other areas that will require thought and project leadership include: Designing intraday project communications, 'At Elbow' zone support design, shift change agenda, daily reporting tools, At Elbow support project scheduling and gathering KPIs.
Our Epic consultants have a wealth of experience with today’s leading Epic software modules, including:
ADT/Prelude
ASAP
Anesthesia
Beacon Oncology
Beaker
BedTime
Benefits Engine
Bridges
Cache DBA/Unix Support
Cadence
Canto
Cupid
Charge Router
Clarity
Data Courier
EpicCare Ambulatory
EpicCare Home Health
EpicCare Inpatient
EpicWeb
Haiku
HIM
HOD
Identity
EpicCare Inpatient Clin Doc
EpicCare Inpatient Orders
MyChart
OpTime
Phoenix
Prelude
Radiant
Resolute Hospital Billing
Resolute Professional Billing
Security
Stork
Tapestry
Welcome
Willow Ambulatory
Willow Inpatient
