An Epic upgrade is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 16 beginning in the early hours of the morning. Here’s a quick FAQ list to tell you what you need to know.
Who is affected?
All Ballad Health Epic users.
What is expected?
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, beginning at 12:01 a.m., Epic users will experience a scheduled Epic downtime due to Ballad Health applying the February and May 22 versions of Epic. IT analysts will place a build freeze on non-emergency changes in Epic beginning Wednesday, Nov. 9, through Friday, Nov. 18, at noon. In preparation for the upgrade, the IT Clinical Informatics team will offer virtual training sessions and provide tip sheets prior to the upgrade, as applicable.
The IT Clinical Informatics team will also perform facility rounding to ensure team members impacted by the upgrade are prepared for the upgrade and associated downtime. The Clinical Informatics team members will continue their rounding late Tuesday, Nov. 15, and resume normal rounding schedules on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Support and assistance are available via the IT Service Desk, which will have a Command Center in place to support the Epic upgrade. The Command Center can be reached by calling the IT Service Desk at 423-431-6290 and pressing option 5.
When will the upgrade take place?
The Epic upgrade will start to be applied around 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16. The Epic system will not be completely offline, but it will be placed in a Level 3 – Downtime “Read-Only” status for approximately two hours. Information cannot be entered into Epic during a Level 3 Downtime. IT will send an advisory notice as soon as the upgrade is clear.
Why are we scheduling an Epic upgrade?
Epic upgrades ensure Ballad’s Epic EMR system is current with Epic’s newest version, and with that comes new functionality. Ballad Health is working to increase our utilization of Epic so we can take full advantage of what the system has to offer, focusing on the elements the system users – our frontline clinical teams and medical staff – need most. To accomplish this, it’s important to ensure our Epic software is current with the latest functionality and requirements.
What are the benefits of this upgrade?
Applying the February and May 22 versions of Epic will provide improvements to Hospital Billing, Willow Ambulatory, MyChart and more. The upgrade will assist with the future transition to Epic Hyperdrive, a web-enabled version of Epic that will streamline workflow. Epic Hyperdrive will also integrate more smoothly with other systems, increasing speed and removing some issues you might have experienced when using Epic with other applications. Future communications will be released when Epic Hyperdrive is implemented in 2023.
As part of our migration to the cloud, we will also be transitioning from the Outlook desktop application to Outlook web access at outlook.office.com, which will run much more quickly. The Outlook application will no longer be accessible on most VDI-enabled devices. Watch for further communications regarding this change.
What does it mean that this is a double upgrade, with two new versions being added to Epic?
The double upgrade means that we will be gaining the benefits of both new versions with only one upgrade. This will not increase Epic downtime during the upgrade. Rather, it will save us downtime by preventing the need for two separate upgrades for the two versions.
How should I prepare for the downtime?
All team members should review the following checklist before Wednesday, Nov. 16:
- All team members need to make sure their Epic login is working on or before Monday, Nov. 14. If you have any issues with your login, contact the IT Service Desk immediately.
- Clinicians should review their facility’s downtime procedures and log in to their unit’s downtime BCA device. It is vital that team members log in to their unit’s BCA devices prior to downtime so the BCA technology will recognize their login credentials.
- All departments should ensure they have their appropriate, up-to-date clinical downtime forms.
- On or before Wednesday, Nov. 16, frontline team members need to confirm that current patient information is flowing into the BCA downtime devices. If the information is not current, you should open an IT ticket immediately.
- From the Ballad Home Page, users should review Epic upgrade training information located under the Epic Upgrade tile.
What should I expect during the Epic system freeze starting on Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.?
During the Epic system freeze, applying filters in Chart Review will not be operational. An error message will appear when you try to create a new filter in Chart Review or try to edit a filter that is already used in Chart Review.
- What to do: If you see an error message when attempting to add or edit a filter, close the error message and continue your workflow. The changes that you made before the error message appeared will not be applied. You will have to make your changes after the upgrade is completed.
During the Epic system freeze, creating or editing SmartPhrases and SmartLinks will not be operational.
- What to do: Since new SmartLinks or SmartPhrases cannot be created, you will need to type the information into Epic once the upgrade is completed.
During the Epic system freeze, personalizing Dashboards will not be operational. If you click the cog icon and try to update settings or edit the components of a Radar dashboard, an error message will appear when you click Accept.
- What to do: Close the error message and continue working in Hyperspace. You will not be able to make your changes until the Epic upgrade on Nov. 16 is complete.
During the Epic system freeze, creating, editing, and sharing NoteWriter Macros will not be operational. If you attempt to create a macro or save changes to a macro during the system freeze, an error message will appear. Additionally, the Owners/Users tab in the SmartBlock Macro Editor is read-only during the system freeze, so you cannot add owners or users for the macro.
- What to do: Wait to make your changes, create macros, or share macros until after the Nov. 16 Epic upgrade is complete.
During the Epic system freeze, creating or editing Quick Actions will not be operational. When you create or edit a Quick Action in your In Basket, an error message appears indicating that the Quick Action is locked. Note that there are two different error messages that can appear.
- What to do: Wait until after the Epic Nov. 16 upgrade is complete to create a new Quick Action. Continue to complete the action as you did previously. If you need to edit a Quick Action before using it again, you might need to complete the action without using the Quick Action until after the upgrade is complete.
During the Epic system freeze, moving activities to a sidebar or floating window will not be operational.
- What to do: Wait to move the Notes activity until after the Nov. 16 upgrade is complete.
During the Epic system freeze, saving Slicer Dicer sessions will not be operational. When you save a Slicer Dicer population or session, an error message will appear when you click Save Session, and the session will not be saved.
- What to do: Continue working in Slicer Dicer but be aware that you cannot save your work until after the Nov. 16 upgrade is complete.
Practicing in the Epic Playground
- Epic users can view updated material and gain an understanding of what changes are occurring with the next upgrade.
- Visit the Epic Playground to practice new functionality before the upgrade on Nov. 16.
- Click here to access Playground logins specific to your department’s Epic module. You can also access the Epic Playground logins by clicking the Epic link from the Ballad Home Page and scrolling to the Epic PLY logins tile.
Next upgrade
Ballad Health will take the November 22 versions of Epic with our next upgrade scheduled on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
