Pilot testing involving clinicians is scheduled to start in the second half of March for Spheris — the comprehensive single vendor solution to replace SHC’s aging dictation system and five existing transcription services.
Spheris is expected to provide a substantial improvement in transcription turnaround time, as well as many other benefits to clinicians and others, explained Johnnie Bellamy, who is working with a multidisciplinary team, including physicians, as lead project manager for the Spheris project.
The project rollout after the pilot will be phased in by service in coming months and will include training.
Benefits of Spheris include:
Routine dictations will be ready for review and signature within 24 hours with letters returned within 12 hours
Stat requests are returned for review within 2 hours
Transcriptions are returned to a secure web-based mailbox for clinician edits and eSign online.
Results are filed in Carecast as soon as the attending physician signs online.
The Spheris implementation will serve a larger set of physicians than the current dictation system, and the Spheris reports will be available in Carecast.
Improving the quality – and accuracy – of referring physician data in the Medical Staff Services (MSO) database and the IDX clinic registration and scheduling system is another dimension of this project, Bellamy explained.
“For physicians this means that as soon as a letter is electronically signed, copies will print and be mailed to referring and primary care physicians using your new letterhead and the correct address from the MSO database,” she said.
During the pilot in March, multiple attendings, housestaff and a nurse practitioner across multiple services will use Spheris for all their dictations.
The scope of the pilot in both inpatient and ambulatory settings involves:
Testing a broad set of document types
Validating the vendor’s accuracy in handling “normal phrases” in dictations
Evaluating several different handheld digital dictation devices supported by the vendor
Testing the connectivity for Mac users
The order of transition to Spheris from the current transcription vendors is being finalized and clinicians will be notified in advance. (Physicians not currently using one of the HIMS transcription services are grouped with the rest of their respective clinical area when they move to the Spheris system).
In the coming weeks and months end users will be contacted individually regarding training, which will be scheduled about 30 days before each physician’s projected move to the Spheris system. Training will consist of web based courses and one-on-one sessions in conjunction with faculty meetings.
For further information, contact Bellamy at jbellamy@stanfordmed.org, (650) 339-2976.
Spheris is expected to provide a substantial improvement in transcription turnaround time, as well as many other benefits to clinicians and others, explained Johnnie Bellamy, who is working with a multidisciplinary team, including physicians, as lead project manager for the Spheris project.
The project rollout after the pilot will be phased in by service in coming months and will include training.
Benefits of Spheris include:
Routine dictations will be ready for review and signature within 24 hours with letters returned within 12 hours Stat requests are returned for review within 2 hours Transcriptions are returned to a secure web-based mailbox for clinician edits and eSign online. Results are filed in Carecast as soon as the attending physician signs online.The Spheris implementation will serve a larger set of physicians than the current dictation system, and the Spheris reports will be available in Carecast.
Improving the quality – and accuracy – of referring physician data in the Medical Staff Services (MSO) database and the IDX clinic registration and scheduling system is another dimension of this project, Bellamy explained.
“For physicians this means that as soon as a letter is electronically signed, copies will print and be mailed to referring and primary care physicians using your new letterhead and the correct address from the MSO database,” she said.
During the pilot in March, multiple attendings, housestaff and a nurse practitioner across multiple services will use Spheris for all their dictations.
The scope of the pilot in both inpatient and ambulatory settings involves:
Testing a broad set of document types Validating the vendor’s accuracy in handling “normal phrases” in dictations Evaluating several different handheld digital dictation devices supported by the vendor Testing the connectivity for Mac usersThe order of transition to Spheris from the current transcription vendors is being finalized and clinicians will be notified in advance. (Physicians not currently using one of the HIMS transcription services are grouped with the rest of their respective clinical area when they move to the Spheris system).
In the coming weeks and months end users will be contacted individually regarding training, which will be scheduled about 30 days before each physician’s projected move to the Spheris system. Training will consist of web based courses and one-on-one sessions in conjunction with faculty meetings.
For further information, contact Bellamy at jbellamy@stanfordmed.org, (650) 339-2976.
