Curious about taking care of 2 different EHR's

[nkochrn, RN]

Our hospital is critical access and uses HMS, we have a family practice attached to our hospital who utilizes Practice Partner. I have lots of experience using HMS as a former floor staff nurse and still fill in occasionally. I have pretty much NO experience using Practice Partner except a quick walk through with the office manager and spending a couple hours observing one of the nurses using it. When I applied for my job as the clinical information specialist I was informed it would include working with both systems. I know I need more training on Practice Partner (but don't see it happening in the near future). I was wondering how common it is for the same person to work with 2 separate systems. I feel that their should be someone for each system, especially right now while trying to make sure everything is meeting the meaningful use requirements.

[ikarus01]

At least in my experience, it has been common to work with more than one system. Obviously, if one system requires a lot of maintenance, troubleshooting or updates, then it becomes a challenge.

I have worked with up to 3 systems at one time, and I felt as if was not an expert in any of them. But at that time, they were having a hard time filling the position, and once they filled that position, I was mainly working with 2 different systems.

Problems occur when you have upgrades/maintenance happening within the same time period for both.

I have also worked with systems that are kind of large and one person is in charge for one piece of the same application...guess it varies by the job, employer, etc.

[rninformatics, DNP, RN]

Depending on the number of application support staff resources and support matrix it is not uncommon for one person to support more than one "system" or application at a time.

Some staff support multiple applications, manage more than one data base, trouble shoot more than one system interface, provide support to more than one department, unit or hospital site at any given time while also taking turns working the Help Desk and providing PC/desk top support too.

You wrote your facility is a crical access hospital - I doubt if your boss has the luxury or the resources to have a 1:1 support staff ratio. Also at the bottom (and ususally in fine print) of everyone's job description is the term: "Performs other duties as assigned"

If formal training is not an option current, you still have a few resources - be proactive and think about how you can increase your own knowledge. Perhaps make a connection with another person at another facility that also uses Practice Partner? Find someone who can mentor you, someone who is willing to share tips and their lessons learned about trouble shooting the app... and thereby increase your knowledge.

Network with people on the Practice Parnter listserve, user group ,etc. Contact the vendor support person for your site and see how she/he can assist you in creasing your competenacy with the application. Have talked with your manager for any ideas he/she may have as to how you can increase your knowledge and comfort level with support the application?

The people who succeed in this specialty are those who are proactive, independent self starters who don't wait for someone else to do what they can do for themsselves.