Click here to download CHI Memorial Epic Super User kickoff presentation.

Did you know that Epic is Wisconsin’s largest generator of solar power?  Epic started development of interoperability in 2005, years before the HITECH Act and the first users went live in 2008.  Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, was the first to go live on Epic.  Epic sites comprise 95% of ambulatory physicians and 72% of hospitals at HIMSS Stage 7 – an industry recognition that requires standards-based interoperability. Epic super user coordinator Barbara Gephart has been working with managers to confirm the list of 200 super users who will support the go-live. Super user kickoff is slated for February 12, 13, and 14, 2019 at the Chattanooga, Hixson, and Georgia campuses.  At the kickoff, super users will learn more about their role in go-live and hear about key project milestones and training commitments. Also on February 12, 13, and 14, we will host get acquainted sessions for physicians and advanced practice clinicians, so watch the Epic page on Mnet for more details.  To learn who is a super user in your area, visit Mnet. Following kick-off, the training catalog will be released on February 22, 2019 and class registration opens March 1.  

Did you know that more than 190 million patients in the US have a current electronic record in Epic? That’s about 57% of the population! Epic says that its customers currently interoperate and exchange 1.3 million patient records each day with other EHR vendors, government agencies, registries and each other. If you’re feeling nervous about Epic and want to get a jump on understanding the platform before training begins, we have a portal for you.  The Epic UserWeb is a great resource and its weLearning portal has bite-sized demonstration videos on everything from Operational readiness to Willow inpatient.  Videos are from 2 minutes to 10 minutes long and will enhance your knowledge base before end user training begins on April 22, 2018.  Go to: https://welearning.epic.com or click here.  If you are a physician or advanced practice clinician who has had experience with Epic in the last six months, you will have the ability to test out of training with an 80% pass rate.  You will, however, be required to attend personalization labs.  More information on training schedules will be released in the coming weeks, and you can be assured there will be plenty of opportunities to fit your busy schedule.  At present, we are planning 110 courses with 675 classes, days, nights, and Saturdays.

Tuesday, October 23 - CHI Memorial leadership has made the decision to go with a phased approach to the implementation of the Epic electronic medical record.  CHI Memorial will pause work to implement Epic in the ambulatory setting and continue with the intentional and well-developed implementation in the acute care environment. We remain committed to our goal of One Patient, One Record across all CHI Memorial hospitals and clinics.

Background:

CHI Memorial leadership, along with the EMR steering committee made the decision to implement Epic in the ambulatory and acute care setting at the same time.  A project team has been working alongside physician and clinical committees from across the organization to provide input into the design and system build, as well as participate in workflow sessions and guide the development of training protocols.

As this work has progressed, the Epic project team has identified substantive scope changes that necessitate we take a step back and examine our process for implementation to ensure the optimal go-live for the entire organization.  The scope changes we have identified are not insignificant from a time and budgetary standpoint; they impact the capital required to complete the project and will require an intense amount of manhours that are not be feasible under our current project timeline.

Following a thorough review of options and due diligence, the Epic executive sponsors made the recommendation to phase the Epic go live across the organization.  The acute care work will progress with the intent to go live June 1, 2019.  The intent is for the ambulatory go live to be scheduled for fiscal year 2020. 

Contributing factors:

• As is often the case, a full understanding of the interoperability and work flows necessary to bring all systems together in the acute and ambulatory setting is not clear until those close to the work begin the complicated design and development.  This was the experience at CHI Memorial.
• As work progressed, the team became increasingly aware of technical and clinical needs to design the optimal system for our clinicians and patients.

What does this mean for CHI Memorial?

• Our project teams have truly gone the extra mile to ensure there is a solid understanding of the Epic platform for a successful go live.  This work, in a short amount of time, is truly remarkable and we thank each person for their dedication. 
• The project teams working on the acute care implementation will continue to work toward the development of new milestones and timelines to achieve our stated objectives.  The project teams working on the ambulatory go live will pause until we have clarity on timelines for capital funding in fiscal year 2020.
• By pausing work on the ambulatory implementation now, we can focus the project team’s work on the acute care needs and strengthen our ability to ensure a successful go live.
• We anticipate having a more definitive project plan on the ambulatory implementation of Epic by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019.

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