It’s hard to believe it’s only been five days since Epic was launched. For many of us, the past few days have been a rollercoaster of ups and downs – logging in for the first time after so many months of prep and training felt great, logging in another fix with IS Support less so. Overall, however – and in comparison to other organizations of our size and complexity – the rollout is going very well.

Of course, we have our share of issues, from printing labels at the blood bank and labs to work flows and discharging patients in a timely manner, and I know this makes for additional stress. As expected, in the first few days thousands of tickets were logged with the IS Support Center. The good news is that more than half of these tickets have been resolved and we’re making solid progress each day in working through the others as quickly as possible.  I truly appreciate your patience and perseverance. Many thanks go to the IS and Epic teams for their dedication and working around the clock to fix issues and minimize the impact on patients.

What continues to inspire me are the great success stories I’ve heard as I’ve been rounding since go-live on Sunday. At the Memorial NICU, for example, caregivers are making the most of Epic for the benefit of their patients and seeing their early success has been inspirational.

Patrick Muldoon and I were rounding at University this week and heard about the fantastic job the emergency department and ICU teams are doing. We are still struggling with operating room flow at Memorial, but I know that if we stick with it and remain positive we will get these issues fixed and end up in a better place than we started.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of having a good attitude about the new system and a willingness to change and adapt. I’ve seen the huge difference this can make in terms of moving through the change curve quickly and getting to a better place. Yes, challenges will remain for some time, but everyday we’re getting a little better. Today was better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today. Remember, you don’t have to go it alone – if you’re stuck, speak with one of the many IS resources (look for the vests!) in your area or visit Epic Central online. Dozens of new job aids have been created to help you work through new processes as efficiently as possible, but they only work if we use them.

To wrap, I want to thank all our caregivers on the front lines who are learning how to use and get the most out of Epic while delivering high quality care to our patients. One caregiver, who has been through many changes like this one, shared that “the spirit and positive collaboration I’ve seen throughout this process is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” To me, that’s the key: We’ll get through this critical transformation together with teamwork and collaboration. Let’s lean on each other – and the help that is available – to get to the other side. Working together, across our entire system, I know we’ll succeed in becoming the best place to give care and the best place to get care.

Thank you for everything you do to make a positive difference for your colleagues, our patients and UMass Memorial Health Care.

Eric

Note: Click the image below for a quick video that outlines our Epic journey this week,

and to see what caregivers from across the system had to say about using Epic during the first few days check out the image below.