Early Success Prepares Us as Enterprise Epic Go Live Nears

UH Clinical Update | July 20233

By Scott M. Sasser, MD, FACEP
Chief Physician Executive, University Hospitals, and President, UHPS and UHMG

80 workgroups. 75 modules. 400 interfaces. 18,000 build configuration tasks. 140 data conversion extracts. 11,000 building block decisions.

These statistics are impressive and tell a big part of the story, but they don’t totally capture the creativity and camaraderie – both within teams and across UH – that made our Initial Epic go-live a success. A commitment to our patients, an emphasis on improving our clinical operations, and a lot of hard work went into that initial phase, and it has put us in an enviable and well-prepared position as we approach the next Epic milestone – the Enterprise go-live on September 30. It is fair to say that we should all be proud as clinicians of how we have moved through the initial wave and how we have continued to prepare UH for what Dr. Megerian calls a “new central nervous system” for our organization, and we need to stay focused and stay the course.

As with everything we do at UH, this move to Epic is first and foremost motivated by what’s best for our patients, their families and our community. It’s important to also recognize that it will improve how our physicians, providers and clinicians provide care and engage with each other. The ease of use of the patient-facing app MyChart helps patients take charge of their health, removing many technological barriers and allowing us to communicate more effectively with our patients. For clinicians, having all patient records in one centralized location allows for more efficient use across our clinical enterprise, a more fruitful collaboration among different providers – and ultimately is a driver of higher quality and more coordinated care and better outcomes for our patients. Beyond the meaningful and significant change for our UH patients and clinicians, the Epic go-live will impact the many facets of our organization, from the way we measure and collect data, to reporting and analysis, and through to our operational and financial performance. It really is an all-encompassing change for us.

And it will be here before you know it: September 30 is just around the corner. 

So let’s continue to prepare and lead our organization through this transition. As physicians and providers, we have a unique role in ensuring the success of this go-live and its subsequent optimization. Our training, preparation and execution will ensure seamless, high-quality care for our patients from the moment we make the switch. To that end, if you have not signed up for training, please do so immediately. If you are signed up for training, please ensure you make your educational sessions and spend time preparing for go-live. Doing this work will not only warrant that you can provide patient care on September 30, but will increase your familiarity with Epic, help you optimize your individual workflows and prepare you for a successful go-live. If you have any questions, please visit the Training and Education page for more information and step-by-step instructions. You can also send questions to Epic.Education@UHhospitals.org, and there are more details in a separate article below in this edition of UH Clinical Update.

Years ago, before my tenure at UH, our physicians and providers were asked for input on a new EHR and made clear that their overwhelming preference was Epic. It’s gratifying that those aspirations are now so close to becoming a reality.

We are close to achieving something Epic at UH. As clinicians, let’s finish the job strong.