BWH Nursing Contributions to Partners
By Denise Goldsmith, MPH, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer
Partners eCare, a Partners-wide initiative to implement the Epic electronic health record and administration system, is scheduled to be up and running at BWH on May 30, 2015. With Partners eCare (PeC), the vision of "one patient, one record, one team, one statement," will enable a seamless flow of clinical and financial information about a patient anywhere across Partners. To achieve this vision, nurses from across Partners have worked together to help build this state-of-the-art clinical system.
BWH clinical nurses are contributing to PeC in very substantial ways. Since the beginning of our journey towards an integrated, electronic information system, BWH clinical nurses have used their voice to shape our future. In late winter 2013, clinical nurses were invited to attend sessions demonstrating the Epic electronic health record. For many weeks, these BWH nurse subject matter experts (SMEs) reviewed workflows within Epic and provided feedback about whether or not they could support our care delivery model. Throughout these sessions, clinical nurse experts provided valuable information, feedback and insight. The SMEs also began their own journey of development from novice to expert with the system.
Many of the SMEs who provided feedback on the Epic workflows continued this work as the project moved into the content validation phase. Since spring 2013, we have been engaged in validating, editing and improving on the Epic clinical content. Once again, BWH nurses contributed in very meaningful ways. Nurses from critical and intermediate care, obstetrical and neonatal care, care coordination, emergency care, perioperative and procedural care, and from our ambulatory care areas, contributed time and expertise to ensure that PeC clinical content would reflect the very best evidence available and when not available, reflect the very best of our current practice across Partners.
The role of the SME has proven to be essential to the successful design and build of the PeC system. SMEs continue to contribute as we complete the content phase of the project. Recently, BWH hosted a set of review sessions where our SMEs identified future PeC workflows that would be different from today and gave feedback on how we might prepare for these changes. BWH SMEs actively participate in a number of regularly scheduled BWH nursing forums where their feedback continues to be sought and heard. In the very near future, SMEs will participate in testing the system they have helped to design. Testing the system will be an exciting time for all as we get closer to the day we "go live" with the system.
Time flies, and May 30, 2015 will be here in a flash! From now until then, you will begin to see changes, like the installation of bedside computers. Incorporating the changes into your practice early is a critical way for you to be involved and gives us the opportunity to use your feedback in meaningful ways. Our past experience shows that this is what strengthens and improves this state-of-the-art clinical system.