You asked: Is there the interest and the opportunity to have live CME credited meetings periodically at Salem Health to update physicians on EPIC changes, EPIC opportunities unknown to some, and maybe to perhaps start exploring standardized formatted SOAP notes?
We answered: It makes a lot of sense to offer CME credited meetings for Epic changes and opportunities. Continuing Professional Development and Information Services met with Dr. O’Brien to look at what would be required to get started. In short, we would need to identify the gap and fill out the CPD planning document so that the requirements can be adequately represented. Sesilia Thompson, manager of clinical informatics, will reach out to schedule a discussion meeting after the Epic upgrade period. If we focus on Epic the tool, standardization would apply to many of the providers, and we know that there is a significant gap that we could close (especially with the appeal of gaining CME credit). We could also look at individual workflow optimization on an individual basis.
You asked: Any way we can text the operators back, or text the nurses on the floor? Often we are in meetings, or some other situation where a prompt text reply would be more expeditious.
We answered: Traditional text messaging is not a secure form of communication in the health care environment, so at this time, we do not have the ability to text back to pages. However, recognizing the evolution in technology, The Joint Commission recently made recommendations on how health care organizations could use messaging in a secure way. If health care organizations choose to begin the process of using secure text messaging, the Joint Commission’s recommendations include extensive infrastructure considerations, developing policies and auditing processes and risk management strategies for texting. At this time, given the significant infrastructure development, we do not have plans to pursue text paging capabilities; however, it may be something that is pursued in the future.