Hi! Our facility is getting ready for EHR implementation- EPIC!

[newnurse20]

For those of you with kind heart and long patience...

I am currently the nursing informaticist in our small hospital, and we are in the phase of preparation. We are told that we need to start gathering all our "current' processes, analyze and redesign if needed to streamline it with EHR.

Any transformation ideas you can help me with from paper to Epic world?

We are going to have our transformation meeting, I will be focused on nursing processes, and as the process involve other departments (such as respiratory, lab or rad), they will have to jot down their processes too. So we can see our workflows.

I just need other ideas on how to kick-start our transformation meeting...I really appreciate any help! Thank yoU!

[stephenfnielsen]

One thing to avoid is trying to turn Epic into an electronic version of your paper chart. People waste a lot of time and energy trying to do "what they've always done" instead of using the new electronic tools for what they are good for. Just because you used to have a particular flowsheet, does't mean that you now need an electronic version. I suggest using the model system as closely as possible (there are limitations) and work towards "best practice" documentation.

[newnurse20]

Thank you for your input! I appreciate it!

[Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN]

We are going to Epic and we have been told not to reinvent the wheel,Epic had standard templates that have been vetted.When are you moving to Epic?

[newnurse20]

They are thinking Arpil of 2014. How about you Ginger's Mom? Our corporate office wants us to took at our current processes, then find any inefficiencies so we can stream line it when we go electronic, such as charting at bedside.