Epic Implementation | Flexibility & Accountability

The Epic Implementation Series

There is no doubt that installing Epic’s systems within a single hospital can be a complicated process. But when you’re an organization that is planning to roll out Epic across multiple inpatient sites, their associate clinics, in house physicians groups, including revenue cycle management, you have likely discovered an entirely new set of roadblocks that could inhibit your successful, on-time installation. Flexibility and accountability shouldn't be overlooked.

Flexibility

One of the big advantages of installing Epic at multiple locations is that you can learn important lessons from your first hospital and apply them to the others. For example, if unit testing at your first hospital was problematic, you should figure out why, make corrections, and consider adding extra time and resources to that particular task as you continue planning phase I, II, and beyond. If physicians found your call center particularly helpful, advertise it as a useful resource in order to build trust and buy-in. Adjust your expectations and project plans accordingly to make things run more smoothly as you continue. 

Though anecdotal evidence is helpful, it’s important to examine things quantitatively as well. Reporting is an essential tool that can shine a light on the specific successes and failures of each application and of the project as a whole. Having your ASAP team monitoring waiting room times, your billing teams tracking levels of service, baseline numbers for costly procedures, and department revenues, and your HIM teams checking your error queues (to name a few) through reports and key performance indicators will help you to see specific areas that you may want to train more intensely or re-work for future GoLives. Our consultants have experience working with a variety of such reports and can help your application teams create and run them with ease. Failing to learn lessons and build on your successes, as simple as it seems, can keep a rollout from greatness if not taken to heart.

Accountability 

Though flexibility is indeed a huge asset, you have deadlines and goals for a reason. You aren’t going to get to Go-Live without a level of firmness – it’s important to hold everyone accountable. Make it known early in the installation where you’re willing to be flexible and what areas are more set in stone. Tying in with the theme of not playing favorites, it is critical to hold all your departments and locations to the same standards. If you have some units or departments that are stronger than others, set your standards high in order to promote excellence. Don’t set easy benchmarks, but rather let your leaders lead. A small amount of competition can be a great source of success and innovation and can help propel you to a successful installation. 

Though you want to hold everyone to the same level of accountability, treating all your locations the same exact way is not always a winning strategy. Different staff and groups usually have different preferences toward certain management styles, organizational structures, and project direction, and though your expectations should remain the same, your way of achieving them may certainly differ. 

Often, transparency on this strategy can go a long way toward dismissing any notions of a preference for one location over another. Make it known that though your leadership may handle things differently based on which hospital, department, or branch is involved, you still expect a level of excellence and timeliness from everyone involved in the project, regardless of location.