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.

Process optimization can go a long way in executing a large-scale EHR implementation for healthcare organization, but at the end of the day, what we’re really talking about are tools. Wielding the tools? People. You cannot overlook the importance of human resources when it comes to project planning for technical implementations. And while this might seem like Health IT Biz Ops 101, what we often see overlooked is making sure you don’t just have stellar people on deck, but that you have the right people in the right positions.

When managing an integration project for healthcare IT (or otherwise), you’re essentially serving as the glue that holds everything together. You’re responsible for client satisfaction and communication, corralling project resources -- including vendors, contractors, developers, and more -- and keeping an eye on both the scope and the budget the ensure no unpleasant surprises upon delivery (or as a barrier to, in some cases). Best practices for project management can somewhat vary by industry, but there are a few key tips for healthcare IT integration efforts that can help a PM stand out from the crowd and encourage future SOWs from a given client.

Ken Bradberry, CPHIMS - Senior VP & CTO at The HCI Group explores the future of cloud technologies and how Epic can be integrated into strategic cloud computing services.

In today’s healthcare organizations, cloud services have become a strategic alternative to traditional application delivery. Cloud computing isn’t anything new to IT, and it now has the potential to change how healthcare organizations deliver cost effective, quality driven services to their patients. Considering the ever-increasing costs of keeping the lights on spending for IT, healthcare providers have no choice but to embrace the cloud in some form. This transformation is being driven by several forces, but the most basic are to cut costs and improve the quality of care.

When a new EHR implementation is imminent for a health system or organization, we often see the proverbial troops preparing for healthcare technology that will basically replace existing tools and replicate current workflows. The C-Suite may have their well-defined list of expected ROI from the endeavor, but unless the same level of rigor is coming from the very staff who will daily use the Electronic Health Record, it’s our experience that many organizations end up swapping one tech vendor for another with little net gain (initially). The collective goal must be embracing change -- on the positive side -- to encourage buzz, buy-in, and better workflows on the other side of the project.

There are many healthcare IT solutions and tools available these days that promise to deliver value and make lives easier for many players within a large health system or healthcare organization. A primary strategy for improving care delivery and cost containment is automating healthcare decisions and processes whenever possible. This cuts down on inefficiency and allows for standards to take root, especially when quality metrics are at stake. If you’re considering a new technology implementation for your health organization and plan to take advantage of automation opportunities and “widgets,” the most important planning you can do is develop solid workflows for the systems you aim to optimize.

When implementing complex health IT systems like EpicCare or Care Everywhere, it’s vital to ensure that the training materials queued up to serve end users are appropriate for busy clinical users. No one wants to pour through dense, hefty training guides that resemble textbooks...and read almost as painfully. While EHR and health IT solution vendors like Epic provide some off-the-shelf materials to facilitate end user training, we find that our health system clients often do well to incorporate their own “flavor” of training materials to suit their staff optimally. Incorporating internal branding is one thing, but streamlining the content of training guides (in whatever medium) is key for delivering materials that will aid in adoption while minimizing confusion and downtime associated with Epic implementation.