EHR Implementation

As experts in EHR Implementation, Optimum Healthcare IT shares our industry knowledge and insight on the latest healthcare IT trends and issues.

September 27, 2023

5 Questions for Receiving Community Connect

Read Time: 3 min How do you prove the stakeholder's side of ServiceNow ROI? Optimum has a three-point strategy: investigate, captivate, and empower.
September 14, 2023

Avoid These Two Common EHR Implementation Pitfalls

Read Time: 2 min You’ve likely considered, or already purchased, a Configuration Management Database - CMDB. Want total control of your IT assets?
August 9, 2023

Four Pros for Standardizing the Formulary

Read Time: 2 min Four key benefits to standard prescription order sets makes your formulary more efficient and cost-effective.
August 2, 2023

Success With Specialists Training Specialists

Read Time: 2 min Using specialists as trainers is an effective strategy to increase physician ownership and ensure long-term EHR sustainability.
July 13, 2023

EHR: Your Lifetime Journey

Read Time: 3 min Do you know how to navigate the EHR lifecycle? Let's dive deeper into the complexities of each stage in the EHR implementation lifecycle. 
June 28, 2023

Adopting Agile: The Power of Iteration in Healthcare IT

Read Time: 3 min Agile methodology and Iteration support successful technology integration. How can healthcare embrace these concepts?
June 14, 2023

ChatGPT, Telehealth, and Financial Burdens: Is it Here to Stay?

Read Time: < 1 min Geoff Blanding joined This Week Health's Newsday Podcast to discuss ChatGPT, Telehealth, and Financial Burdens.
May 31, 2023

Empowering Healthcare Excellence: The Vital Role of Clinical Asset Management

Read Time: 2 min Beyond ensuring that medical devices function properly, clinical asset management remains challenging for health organizations.
May 24, 2023

What IT advancements are needed to improve value-based care

Read Time: 4 min The shift to value-based care models in healthcare will require significant IT advancements. Prepare your organization with these tech tips.
December 16, 2022

Maximize your Learning Management System for EHR Success

Read Time: 2 min A Learning Management System (LMS) is a critical tool for a successful Epic implementation and must be built into your training journey.
December 1, 2022

How to Identify Super Users? (It’s Not So Obvious)

Read Time: 2 min Understanding who is best to serve as a Super User might not be so obvious. How can you get the most out of this essential training role? 
October 14, 2022

Why Does Clinical Experience Matter in Healthcare IT Leadership?

Read Time: 5 min How do the worlds of IT and healthcare converge and how much does clinical experience matter in healthcare IT leadership? Meet Brenda Ashley.
September 30, 2021

EXCEL Program Built to Support Clinicians

Read Time: 3 min Optimum has developed a focused EXCEL program to address the new challenges and changes clinicians are facing coming out of the pandemic.
August 11, 2021

EpicShare Connects Epic Clients

Read Time: 2 min EpicShare is a new online resource for Epic customers to share ideas, best practices, tips and tricks, and learn what works well from each other. EpicShare connects Epic clients to improve outcomes and patient care.
May 26, 2021

Lessons Learned from a Cerner TIP Beta Project

Read Time: 3 min Lessons learned from a Cerner TIP Beta project - Cerner's updated agile implementation project methodology.
April 22, 2021

Vital Change Management is Often Forgotten

Read Time: 2 min Change can be haphazard, reactionary, and directionless. With proper change management, it can have clear direction, process, and purpose.
March 3, 2021

Post-Implementation Staffing Needs for Revenue Cycle Applications

Read Time: 4 min App builds and implementations need adequate staffing, but you should also consider your staffing needs will be after implementation?
February 16, 2021

Legacy System Considerations for Cerner Tools and Applications

Read Time: 2 min If the Cerner EHR is ever decommissioned, there are several Cerner Tools to consider when accessing or transferring your data.
December 15, 2020

Are You Serious About Testing?

Read Time: 3 min As technology implementation specialists, our job is to find the issues and seek out the problems before they reach end users.  And that’s where technology testing comes into play. 
November 17, 2020

Physician Champions and Healthcare IT Projects

Read Time: 3 min The Physician Champion plays an integral role in the successful development and implementation of a healthcare IT project.
April 29, 2020

COVID-19: The Importance of Lab Professionals

Read Time: 2 min COVID-19 it is an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the unseen heroes fighting the global pandemic - Lab Professionals.
February 18, 2020

The Importance of Clinical Content Standardization

Read Time: 3 min It doesn’t matter which EMR software you use, the benefits of clinical content standardization far outweigh not doing so.
November 12, 2019

Keys to a Successful Lab System Implementation

Read Time: 2 min Regardless of the size of your lab, implementing a laboratory system can be a daunting undertaking with many potential problems.
March 26, 2019

Operational Involvement in EHR Adoption

Read Time: 3 min Operational involvement in project activities including workflow design, content, testing, and training are vital to EHR Adoption.
January 8, 2019

Are You Ready For Your Next Epic Upgrade?

Read Time: 4 min Upgrades are a common process that all Epic customers spend countless hours and significant amounts of energy to implement. Each upgrade is different, and each come with their challenges.
December 5, 2018

Three Steps for Success with Clinical Order Sets

Read Time: 3 min Increasing Clinical Order Set usage improves patient safety & providing metrics that can gauge the organization’s clinical efficiency.
August 7, 2018

The EHR Journey – Workflow Analysis, Ease of Use & Best Practices

Read Time: 4 min A major part of any EHR installation is workflow analysis. Every organization practices, functions, and cares for patients a little differently largely due to training, culture, and patient demographics that they serve. Knowing all of this, there is still an unrealistic expectation that healthcare technology is plug-and-play. Being trapped in this misconception can lead to end-user frustration, delays in care for patients, delayed revenue or revenue loss, and an overall mistrust of the product and the IT implementation team.
July 6, 2018

Pediatric Patients (and Pediatric EHRs) Must Be Treated Differently

Read Time: 3 min In healthcare, there are all types of facilities & settings. All of these different care settings can benefit from some form of electronic health record (EHR) software, each with their own specific needs for the patients that they serve.
May 1, 2018

With Rhyme and Reason, Epic Launches Sonnet into the Market

Read Time: 3 min The long-anticipated launch of Epic’s new scaled-down EHR, known as Sonnet, took place in March at HIMSS18 with tremendous excitement. Is the Community Hospital market ready to be successful with it?
April 25, 2018

The EHR Journey – Selecting an EHR Vendor

Read Time: 4 min As a healthcare organization, innovation and change can be a challenge. In this series, we reached out to Terri Couts, VP of Epic Application Programs at Guthrie Clinic, for her thoughts on the end-to-end EHR journey.
February 14, 2018

Five Provider Wins from Installing Cupid

Read Time: 5 min Epic’s Cupid module was designed specifically for Cardiology, but it has proved difficult to implement. There are ways to achieve success.
January 18, 2018

We Successfully Installed Our New EHR – Why Haven’t Things Changed?

Read Time: 5 min New software implementations require a change that affects people and processes. The implementation of an organization-wide EHR or ERP software system involves significant change throughout the organization that impacts most, if not all, employees and patients.
January 10, 2018

Guiding Principles to Consider When Using Cerner’s Model Order Sets

Read Time: 3 min Smaller organizations, which usually cannot afford the subscription maintenance, should consider the Cerner Model Order Sets as part of their Cerner Implementation. hese order sets are based on what other Cerner clients designed, and use within their organizations.
January 4, 2018

Cost Savings from Standardizing the Formulary

Read Time: 2 min Providers use medications that they're familiar with & have had success with. Unless there is a compelling reason, they are unlikely to change their prescribing habits. While this may hold true across providers, there are lots of benefits, including cost savings, from standardizing the formulary.
December 19, 2017

The Evolution of Healthcare and Railways

Read Time: 4 min Conventional wisdom tells us that the evolution of healthcare technology grew from the steady growth of legacy, incumbent back-office systems.
December 5, 2017

3 Things To Remember When Implementing A Cerner EHR

Read Time: 4 min Implementing a new Cerner EHR can be a daunting task. There are so many big things to think of, that organizations can miss smaller or subtler things. These workflows and processes are done every day, and so common that people take them for granted.
November 7, 2017

Developing a Super User Program that Works

Read Time: 5 min A Super User Program that extends beyond go-live is one of the key factors in the success of your Epic implementation.
October 17, 2017

Alert Fatigue is an Alarming Problem

Read Time: 3 min In theory, the more you alert a provider to potential problems, the better care the patient will receive. Pop-up alerts can simultaneously be one of the most positive and most negative features of an EHR – depending on how they’re implemented.  Too many alerts can lead to alert fatigue, which can be an alarming problem.
August 10, 2017

3 Considerations when Planning Epic Upgrades

Read Time: 5 min Upgrading to new Epic versions is vital to organizational success. Getting your Epic Upgrade right starts with preparation. Read on about three things you need in place, before you even start.
August 3, 2017

Clinical Simulation Bolsters EHR Readiness

Read Time: 3 min Clinical simulations are a key part of a blended learning solution for go-lives and an existing part of clinical training.  The EHR can be integrated into the simulation to increase the effectiveness of existing high fidelity scenarios.  The advantage for organizations that invest in clinical simulations during go-live is that users are better prepared to use their new knowledge and skills prior to seeing patients, and the structure created in the deliverables can be used post go-live.
June 28, 2017

Remembering the Five Ps

Read Time: 3 min Proper Planning and Communication are the cornerstones that can make or break an EHR implementation. Communication to all levels is necessary.
June 13, 2017

Testing, It’s not Just for IT Anymore

Read Time: 4 min EHR testing doesn’t begin or end with the implementation, rather it’s a critical element of running an ongoing Information Technology function.
April 25, 2017

Planning for an EHR Implementation?  Don’t Overlook Communication

Read Time: 4 min While not explicitly responsible for building or activating the EHR system that will revolutionize your organization, it's important to have a person or team dedicated to communicating with your end users – at all stages of the system's life cycle.
January 10, 2017

System Error: How To Avoid The Most Common EHR Implementation Mistakes

Read Time: 4 min The first common mistake healthcare organizations make during an Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation is a half-hearted effort buying into principles. Learn what to avoid when implementing an EHR and how to avoid common implementation mistakes.
December 27, 2016

Patient Attribution and Care Teams – Managing Side-Effects of Population Health Initiatives

Read Time: 3 min Who is responsible for the care of a patient? This seemingly-simple question has become increasingly complex, and population health initiatives can act as a catalyst for improving the process of patient attribution.