Epic Community
Connect Implementation for a Nationally Recognized Not-for-profit Healthcare OrganizationThe Client
Founded in 1996, John Muir Health (JMH) is a health care service headquartered in Walnut Creek, California and serving Contra Costa County, California and surrounding communities. They are recognized as preeminent centers for neurosciences, orthopaedics, cancer care, cardiovascular care and high-risk obstetrics.
The Challenge
JMH, an 817-bed hospital system, began searching for a partner to develop and staff their Connect Program. Several competitors in the Bay Area already had established Connect Programs in the Bay Area market. Connect was a strategic organizational initiative for John Muir’s continued growth and ambulatory care expansion, that would lay be the foundation for future projects such as population health management and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). John Muir selected Healthcare Triangle (HCTI) to develop the Connect Program and provide leadership and staffing for a “turnkey” solution.
The Work
Healthcare Triangle worked with John Muir Leadership to establish the budget, staffing model, marketing / sales approach, and scope of services that would define the Connect Program. The goal was to provision Epic to 400 physicians in three years. The scope of the project was to rollout Epic’s entire Ambulatory suite of applications including EpicCare Ambulatory EMR (Documentation and Orders), Cadence Scheduling, Prelude Registration, Resolute Professional Billing/Claims, and HIM. As part of the Program leadership, HCTI provided or developed frameworks, templates, processes, and tools utilized to manage governance, sales and marketing, communications, and the various simultaneous implementations throughout the community.
Frameworks
- Governance Model
- Program Management Methodologies
- Project Management Methodologies
- Sales and Marketing
Processes
- Decision Making
- Scope Dispute Resolution
- Sales to Implementation Handoff
- Implementation to Support Handoff
Templates
- Charters
- Project Plan
- Communication Plan
- Marketing Collateral
Tools
- Status Dashboards
- Risks, Issues, Decisions (RIDs) Lists
- Actual to Budget Comparison
- Testing, Training, Go Live Plans
HCTI also provided direct project management and staffing for the Connect Program. Four implementation teams were created, with each team comprised of analysts for each module. Each team also had representation from the John Muir IT analyst team in order to promote knowledge transfer for future production support.
Benefits
HCTI continues to lead the Connect Program at John Muir. The Connect Program at John Muir has over 350 community providers live in over 53 practice locations in the Walnut Creek area. Through this, the rollout also enabled the establishment of a clinically integrated network throughout their region utilizing the EHR as the technology platform to enable quality and higher provider billing rates.
- Through the clinically integrated network and a shared technology platform for non network providers, patient care coordination increased by 107%, improving the quality of care for each patient through streamlined workflows ensuring the process is seamless
- Community Providers and JMH increased effective care coordination by 43%
- The shared clinical record reduced documentation and eased integration between JMH and Community Providers
This success has allowed John Muir to begin discussions to partner with other health systems in the region to use their Connect Program to continue expansion of their ambulatory footprint throughout the Bay Area. The value of Community Connect when done with the right approach and the right partner not only drives the hub organizations success, but the success of the community at large
Value for Community Partners
With the installation of Community Connect in their practices, independent providers also increase their engagement with John Muir Medical Group Primary Care Physicians. Reducing the barriers to patient care and increasing the value of providers sharing the same clinical record for a patient helps independent community doctors remain relevant.
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