When health systems decide to pull the trigger on a large-scale healthcare IT integration project, they will often try to keep as much core knowledge in-house as possible. Hiring consultants and vendors is not uncommon as well, but the ship is generally being driven by employed resources of the hospital. This isn’t a bad thing per se, but when it comes to certain aspects of delivering well-integrated healthcare systems and EHR implementation, it’s worth tapping into outside parties who can bolster the overall skill set on the project, and augment your team that may be underprepared for this kind of action. One such resource worth outsourcing for integration: Quality Assurance (“QA”).

While the planning involved in EHR implementation is extensive, it’s important that healthcare organizations stack the deck when it comes to roll-out. In our experience, hospitals and large practices can rarely afford a long period of solution overlap or clinical disruption, which is why a successful launch (and smooth landing) are clutch for mitigating extensive costs and slipped timelines. No matter how together a care delivery organization has it, opting for Go-Live support for NextGen EHR implementation is the insurance needed to push forward confidently and efficiently, allowing care providers and staff to focus on patients, not on technology.

There is an incredible amount of work that goes into an EHR implementation. With no shortage of tasks and milestones, delivering a healthcare IT solution (such as MEDITECH) to a large health organization is a feat that requires extensive coordination and effective communication. One of the most powerful tools to this end, especially at the tail end of the implementation phase (roll-out and adoption), is a dedicated communication channel for the MEDITECH Go-Live. Some circles refer to this as a “War Room,” and it may be prudent to invoke this kind of on-demand support in other phases of healthcare technology delivery as well. But especially when a large hospital is making a cut-over and has set a date for launching MEDITECH (be it from scratch or to support a hefty upgrade), it’s vital to get the right people in the same room should something go wrong. (Because it will.)

With the rise in focus on population health by large health systems and hospitals, many executives and stakeholders are left scratching their heads to understand why the epic (no pun intended) investment in their EHR isn’t getting the job done. The reality is that most EHR systems were designed for the Fee-For-Service days, and there simply aren’t quick enough adaptations in those technologies to address the vital importance of tracking patient outcomes, not just codes. We’ve seen clients point to their behemoth health records system as the solution to a myriad of patient management problems, but it takes a comprehensive approach to healthcare technology to leverage (not lean on) an established EHR to make population health management possible.

We recently shared how important it is to engage the right resources for an EHR implementation for a health system or hospital. What precludes this process at times is identifying the “weak links” on the team who are holding up progress. Gross malalignments of talent and tasks are pretty easy to spot, but some of what we’ll share today are the more subtle ways that you can detect where there are barriers to progress on implementing EHR systems, or healthcare technology in general for your organization or clients. Because timelines are real and budgets are locked in, you simply can’t afford to press forward with logjams or, worse, balls dropped by ill-equipped or poorly-motivated resources.

One of the measures of a successful healthcare IT implementation is the “stickiness” of the technology. But to be fair, this is generally more a reflection of the total project efforts, versus the technology itself. Was training sufficient to encourage adoption and gain traction with end users? Are the ROIs being realized to justify the expense and effort? Is the thruput and quality of patient care enhanced by the health technology implemented? Specifically when it comes to Revenue Cycle Optimization solutions, moving the needle on charge capture, collections, and registration ease goes a long way in justifying the RCM project and establishing stickiness. But, as with anything, we can’t expect that the tech will do the work for us. One of the most vital steps that a Revenue Cycle Project Lead can take before implementing the vendor-of-choice’s software is to understand existing workflows, where there are barriers, and what opportunities exist to optimize before the solution is even delivered.

Let’s dive more into workflow assessments and why they can be so valuable for making Revenue Cycle Optimization truly stick!

When it comes to EHR Training, making the most of these resource-intensive sessions is key to ensuring the payoff is worth the effort. A lot of planning by training leads goes into delivering classroom or virtual instruction on an EHR (such as Cerner, which we’ll highlight today) to ensure the time spent by clinical resources -- including busy physicians and RNs -- is valuable and effective for supporting Go-Live efforts and encouraging adoption. (After all, those expected ROIs won’t manifest themselves!) Well-developed training materials and modules are clutch for delivering Cerner Training during EHR implementation projects, but today we’re going to touch on a few simple “housekeeping” items that will help set the stage for effective sessions and maximum absorption of vital information. These aren’t earth-shattering in complexity, but we’ve seen clients overlook the simple value of a few preparation steps that can really impact how effective (or not) is a training session.

When it comes to large health systems, one of the biggest challenges is coordinating care amongst various disparate locations. Especially in the absence of a unifying EHR instance to connect ancillary and core healthcare providers, understanding where a patient is in the care continuum and how to minimize friction as the acutely and chronically ill move between and within treatment facilities is vital. Chasing activity from ED to rehab, PCP to surgical center, ambulatory clinic to ambulance, it gets confusing and messy fast. In the realm of healthcare IT solutions, interoperability continues to be one of the most promising avenues for addressing these challenges. In terms of cost savings and risk management, improving communication of health conditions and streamlining the flow of health information between providers is paramount. Interoperability initiatives and technologies are at the forefront of the promising steps toward realizing true population management and quality care.

With over 20 years of experience as a registered nurse, Kelly Moxon brings a wealth of insight into her work as a MEDITECH Consultant.

While it’s not uncommon to expect that most health systems will have multiple environments in which Healthcare IT partners can develop and test, it’s nevertheless important that technical resources understand the complexities involved with exchanging PHI (Protected Health Information). Even in the most prudently managed and designed staging environment, it’s possible for “production” patient data to find its way into the folds, be it a poor job masking records or a snafu in a bulk load process. Regardless, one of the best ways that EHR Integration and Testing experts can bolster the security and confidence of their clients or organization is to participate in voluntary HIPAA Training.