An Epic upgrade is scheduled for Wednesday, March 15, beginning in the early hours of the morning. Here’s an FAQ to help you prepare.
Who is affected?
These changes apply to all Ballad Health Epic users.
What is expected?
On Wednesday, March 15, beginning at 12:01 a.m., Epic users will experience a scheduled Epic downtime due to Ballad Health applying the Nov. 22 version of Epic. IT analysts will place a freeze on non-emergency changes in Epic beginning Wednesday, March 8, at noon through Thursday, March 16. 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 affected by the upgrade are prepared for the upgrade and associated downtime. The Clinical Informatics team members will continue their rounding late Tuesday, March 14, and resume normal rounding schedules on Wednesday, March 15. 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, March 15. 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 Health’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.
These upgrades allow us to keep up with the latest Epic updates for convenience and security purposes, in addition to preparing us for future upgrades. This upgrade will prepare us to move from Epic Hyperspace to Epic Hyperdrive. We will take this new, web-enabled version of Epic with a later upgrade, but this is a key step in moving toward that goal. Epic Hyperdrive will resolve some issues that users have experienced, increase the speed of Epic and streamline workflows.
How should I prepare for the downtime?
All team members should review the following checklist before Wednesday, March 15:
- On or before Wednesday, March 15, 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.
- 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. From the home page of Ballad Health’s intranet, select Epic from the top navigation bar and then click on the Epic Upgrade starburst tile to access training information. Choose the category that coincides with your role.
- On or before Wednesday, March 15, 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.
What should I expect during the Epic System Freeze starting on March 8, 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 March 15 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 March 15 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 March 15 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 March 15 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 March 15 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 Nov. 22 upgrade.
- Visit the Epic Playground to practice new functionality before the upgrade on March 15.
- 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 Health intranet home page > Epic > Education and Training > Epic PLY logins.
Next upgrade
- We will share details of our next planned Epic upgrade at a later date.
