Clearer picture of HIT system needs emerging

We asked, and you answered. Reinforcing our organizational valuDemos Epic 5e of “everyone, everyday,” you spoke very clearly about what you would like our Soarian Exit Strategy Task Force to focus on as they evaluate our current information technology systems to find the best future solutions for our many needs. Your feedback is an important component in this process.

Over the past few weeks we have moved beyond the online survey phase – during which 1,445 of you responded — into product demonstrations. I want to say thank you to all who participated in the demos for Epic last week. From across the system more than 500 of you took time out of your busy schedules to attend multiple demos for a variety of specialty, service and support areas, leading to the submission of 1,850 scoring sheets.    The top 5 attended sessions were: Company and Product Overview, Ambulatory EHR, Nursing and Interdisciplinary Documentation, Patient Portal and Clinical Decision Support.

There was incredible enthusiasm surrounding demonstrations as evident from your comments:Demos Epic 4

“The energy and excitement about a new, fully integrated medical record was palpable, and the sense of collaboration/commitment to improving the quality of care was everywhere. I thought the two days thus far went exceptionally well, and gave the task force purpose!”

Thomas Scornavacca, DO                                                                                            Medical Director, UMass Memorial Office of Clinical Integration

“One of the most eye-opening moments for me was realizing how much time we spend accessing multiple IT systems to gather key information about patient care. Movement to a fully integrated medical record will allow us to cut out so much waste in our day and increase value-added time spent providing quality care to our patients.”

Lisa McCabe                                                                                                                         Director of Pharmacy, Marlborough Hospital

“I felt the day was very organized. We were made to feel part of a team that will have long lasting effects on the organization.”

Michelle Drew                                                                                                                Manager, Tri-River Family Health Center

I really appreciate the feedback and encourage those of you who attended the Epic demos to also attend the Cerner demonstrations scheduled for March 9 and 10 so you can compare the two vendors effectively. In addition, for those who are interested, there are all-day, walk-in opportunities to view the product. These sessions do not require registration and will be held in the Blais Pavilion, Aaron Lazare Medical Research Building on the University Campus of the Medical Center. If you have any further questions please let us know.

Demos Epic 2I want to say thank you to those who organized the demonstrations: Medical Center CIO Pati George and Joyce Brindisi, IS trainer. Thank you also to our Medical School colleagues — Dr. Deborah Harmon Hines, Bill Tsaknopoulos, Anthony Covello, Christine Pimentel, Matthew Tracy, Craig Charron, — who are so gracious in helping us host these demos, and to the following volunteers and facilitators:

Volunteers:

Jeanne Martin, Kristin Fitzpatrick,  Dawn Canterbury, Margy Diaz, Faith Hanson, Scott Edmond, John Hersey, Charly Busky, Elise Berry, Robin Pacheco, Pat Richardson, Patrick St. Jean, Anne Bianchin, Cheryl Brennan, Jane Prouty, Susie Sutherland, Peter Hogan, Barbara Tully, Nancy Tivnan, Rick Mohnk, Stacy Stephenson, Dan Calocci and Caitlin Bassett.

Facilitators:

Alice Shakman, Alison Madden, Anne Seger, Bob Dullea, Gregory Volturo, John Salzberg, Joy Jacobson, Lisa Gillum, Maichi Tran, Matt Shields, Matthias Walz, Max Rosen, Nikolaos Kakouros, Pamela Manor, Richard Irwin, Robin Sodano, Shawn Cody, Steve Tosi,  Steve Erban, Tim Tarnowski and Tom Scornavacca.

Along with your feedback as a result of the demos, I will also present your responses to our exit strategy survey to our Board of Trustees. We know from that survey that more than 85 percent of you don’t feel the current systems meet the needs of our patients, health care system or even your own needs. That is valuable information and I want to personally thank everyone for their feedback.

Well done!

Thanks for all your great ideas and for taking great care of our patients and one another,

Eric

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