Decentralized Epic Go-Live Success at Scripps Health
Background: Scripps Health
Scripps Health is a private, nonprofit, integrated health system in San Diego County. Scripps operates five acute care hospitals as well as four emergency rooms (ER), three urgent care centers, primary care centers throughout San Diego County, over 60 medical and surgical specialties, home health services, and health education classes and support services. As one of the nation’s best hospitals ranked by U.S. News & World Report and Truven Health Analytics, Scripps offers excellent medical care as well as preventive services and wellness screenings for every stage of life.
Scripps Health successfully implements Epic’s Enterprise Electronic Health Record system across 1,440 Square Miles with Optimum Healthcare IT.
Challenges
In 2015, Scripps Health chose Epic for its electronic health records (EHR) system. The selection of Epic allowed for full integration of Scripps hospitals and ambulatory sites, as well as providing secure data exchange with external groups that use other EHRs. The challenge faced by Scripps was that the go-live of Epic was decentralized across 1,440 square miles. Scripps needed a partner who has experience managing go-lives with complex logistical needs. Scripps selected Optimum Healthcare IT to provide implementation support for 3 Waves of go-lives starting in 2017, including logistics management.
The complexities of this project were enormous. We needed a partner that had depth & breadth in the Epic implementation space and selected Optimum for these activities. They brought hundreds of resources to bear and were flexible in terms of meeting unanticipated needs as they became known across the health system. They managed the logistics completely with no noticeable impact on the business and clinical operations. They were clear on what they would deliver and executed on those deliverables in all respects.
| Assistant Vice President, Information Services
Solution
Optimum provided training management support, operational readiness advisory, which included super-user development, physician advisory services, command center/call bank management and staffing, dispatch center management, and end-user support, including management and scheduling. The management of resources relied on the scheduling feature of Optimum’s proprietary tool known as Skillmarket. The scope included all core clinical applications, as well as patient access-revenue cycle applications. Special teams were deployed for preference card build, shadow charting support, the legacy system to Epic In-Basket conversion, and user adoption sessions across all roles. Our management team completed peak staffing assessments for all in-scope departments to ensure the appropriate numbers for support to include the correct application and integration knowledge. ATE support was provided for four weeks in a tapering fashion with increasing end-user confidence and decreasing numbers of issues identified.
