Epic. It's bringing you a lot of cool things. But change is always a little scary. So, the MSA is going to help with tips designed just for your practice. You can always find these on the MSA blog. Doctors working to help tailor Epic to HHS will be writing these blogs. Some will help you to manage the change and some will make sure you get the difference between what you do now, and the cool things you can do in Epic.
There are many ways that physicians carry out their work at HHS. But we all use the medical record.
Now that the medical record is being so tightly integrated into the workflow of patient care with EPIC, it is becoming a much more powerful and useful tool for us.
Like any tool, that requires some investment in change and in making the best of the tool.
That investment will require a little work and some reflection. Analyze your current practice flow so you’ll be able to identify:
a) What to change;
b) How to prepare for that change; and
c) How to integrate better at “go-live” (note, if you say “go-live”, you will sound cool).
If you truly understand your flow now, you’ll be set to improve your practice when Epic launches (I mean at “go-live” -- see how cool that sounds vs. launches?).
How do you analyze your workflow?
a) List the tasks you and your assistants do (book ORs; triage referrals; see patients in clinic, on the ward, or in the ER, etc.)… easy, because you know your practice.
b) To be able to translate your current workflow to Epic, ask practical questions:
• Who fills the CT req? When?
• How do you make sure your assistant/nurse knows what you plan to do later?
• Who books follow-ups and how?
• When in the encounter do you dictate?
It’s these little questions and the understanding your current processes, together, that will help you transition properly to Epic. Doubtless, you will find some ways to improve and automate as you explore the Epic toolbox during training in the spring of 2022 (more information coming soon!).
Why do this now?
Well, because you need time to consider what you do so you can think about what HAS to be done, what has to be done THIS way, and what you would like to CHANGE .
Think about this.
Next week, I will show you what I have done to analyze my practice in one of the ways I work, as an example.
And remember, this practice review falls under the Royal College MoCOMP program Section 3 – the hardest section to find content for, the most useful CME, and the section that rewards 3 hours of credit for each 1 hour spent. To claim this, jot down notes on what you do. Ask your assistant to chuck it in your MoCOMP folder, and log it onto the MAINPORT site.