A variety of live support and training activities will be available after the “big bang,” when CIS-Epic goes live at SHC at midnight on April 25, according to the implementation team. (The two primary care clinics — Stanford Family Medicine and Stanford Medical Group — will go live on Tuesday, April 29).
“Helping physicians and other SHC caregivers and staff work effectively in the new electronic health record (EHR) environment in support of patient care will be a top priority, so you can expect that the level of support to individuals and to the institution as a whole will be extraordinary,” explained Kevin Tabb, vice president for medical affairs.
Medical Staff leadership expects that practicing physicians will have registered and completed training prior to the CIS-Epic launch. Successful completion of training is a prerequisite for a log-in and password, which will become necessary to care for patients at SHC after go-live, Tabb noted. [See president’s column].
Additional staff is being added to the Help Desk to provide round-the-clock support for caregivers that have questions or need assistance. Call (650) 723-3333 to be triaged to the correct expert.
Here are some programs intended to help physicians and other caregivers make a successful transition to the CIS-Epic electronic health record (EHR):
“Notes” workshops
Physicians won’t be required to enter chart notes directly into CIS-Epic on Day 1, but they will need to do so within 30 days following the April 25 go-live. That’s why SHC Learning Services is offering a series of three-hour workshops throughout May to help physicians learn strategies for managing their progress notes within CIS-Epic. Added value? Without having to rely on an intermediary, physicians input vital information directly into the record for immediate sharing with other appropriate users. [See chief of staff column].
Further training
For information, including inquiries on possible extended practice sessions in the Hospital Cafeteria Hallway and the Medical Staff Lounge, send an e-mail to Stanford.learning@accenture.com,
or call the Learning Services Help Desk at (800) 394-7970.
In April, training instructors were available in the Medical Staff Lounge on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m. Additional hours might be added after go-live, and additional sessions were posted for housestaff in the Resident’s Lounge.
“At the elbow” support
— These services are planned to extend 30 days after go-live:
• Green Shirts — These CIS-Epic experts are dedicated to helping physicians use the CIS-Epic system and will be available throughout the Hospital 24/7. Physician support will also be available for the two go-live clinics, SFM and SMG, and in other clinics where physicians may nevertheless need support using the CIS-Epic system.
• SuperUsers — More than 200 individuals have been designated as SuperUsers who have received additional CIS-Epic training and workflow education. They will be scheduled "out of the count" to specifically support their colleagues using the CIS-Epic system.
• Red Shirts — A group of highly trained experts from the CIS-Epic Team and from Epic Systems Inc. will be available to support SuperUsers throughout the hospital to troubleshoot problems and answer technical questions related to the use of the CIS-Epic system.
Red Shirts and SuperUsers complement each other, said William Kucharski, SHC Epic activation manager. For example, SuperUsers will likely be far more versed in workflow issues than the more technology-oriented Red Shirts. Green Shirts have deeper and broader understanding of physician needs and the system itself. The support structure is intended to triage the types of issues that arise with the introduction of a new EHR by providing support for both workflow and for technical issues for each individual using the system, Kucharski explained.
Command Centers
• Technical Command Center at North Campus will focus on fixing CIS-Epic system application, technical, and security-related issues.
• Dispatch Center in the North end of the SHC cafeteria will focus on coordinating and dispatching the appropriate Red Shirt and Green Shirt resources to the units and departments where they are needed.
• Hospital Go-Live Command Center in the Hospital Board Room will be staffed by executive leaders and SHC staff who can quickly evaluate issues, collect and manage SHC resources, then make operational decisions.
Training information: Stanford.learning@accenture.com
