Epic Foundation project is underway!

19 Aug 2018

Epic upgrade set to increase efficiency and reduce denial delays

By: Claire O’Brien, MD, chief medical information officer

 

As outlined in the quality, safety, and patient experience A3 this fiscal year, we are upgrading our Epic system to meet best practices in order to:

• Increase user efficiency and decrease amount of time spent documenting in the system
• Reduce denial days (for insurance reimbursements)

In the decade since we implemented Epic, the company has created a “foundation” standard, informed by best practices from hospitals all around the country.

Upgrading and aligning our system and workflows will allow us to more easily add desired features and modules in the future.

What to know:

• Timeline: the project will be conducted over three phases with go-lives in early September, late October, and late January.
• Training and communication: as we outline specific changes associated with each phase, our goal is to provide active and timely training without requiring extensive classroom time.
• Will there be a build freeze?
• Throughout the three phases of the Epic Foundation project, we will be pausing the normal flow of enhancement work. The reason for this is threefold:
• Maintain capacity to execute on the Epic Foundation project
• Ensure alignment to best practices and simplification
• Maintain the integrity of the system for testing
• Requests for enhancements should continue to go through the normal councils and channels*. Upon receiving them, the Epic Foundation work groups will assess and communicate whether the requested enhancement aligns to Epic Foundation best practices.
• If you would like to learn more between Common Ground updates, please visit the project SharePoint page here.

*Note: the enhancement request forms have been simplified. You will be prompted to log into the Salem Health IS Service Portal to fill out the form. Use your normal Salem Health/Epic username and password.