Ballad Health will do an upgrade to our Epic electronic health record (EHR) on Wednesday, Feb. 12, starting at 1:30 a.m. Epic users will experience a scheduled Epic downtime of up to two hours as the new August 2024 version of Epic is applied.
Leading up to the event, Epic users will experience limitations with various Epic features beginning Friday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m. Click here for more information on the system freeze.
About the downtime
Epic will not be completely offline during the downtime window, but will be placed in a “read only” status, so information can’t be entered into Epic during this downtime period. Ballad Health IT will notify users when the downtime period has ended through an IT “All Clear” notification.
NOTE: A system build freeze for non-emergent Epic changes will go into effect starting Wednesday, Feb. 5, at noon, lasting until Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m.
(See a special note at the end of this article about Ballad Health’s great work on planned downtime!)
About the upgrade
Epic upgrades ensure our EHR is current with Epic’s newest version, which keeps our foundation system current on new features and functionalities. This latest upgrade will provide a host of new modules, screen designs, reports, functionalities and fixes to issues from previous versions.
Users can expect minor changes to their screens and workflow.
How to prepare, if you’re an Epic user
- Make sure your Epic login is working on or before Monday, Feb. 10.
- Review your facility’s downtime procedures and log into your unit’s downtime BCA device. This step is important because your login credentials must be recognized by the BCA device prior to the downtime.
- Prior to Wednesday, Feb. 12, frontline team members need to confirm patient information is flowing into the BCA downtime devices. If an issue arises, contact the IT Service Desk immediately.
- Ensure your department has the appropriate, up-to-date downtime forms.
- Training information about the upgrade can be found here on our Epic site on the Ballad Health intranet.
- If you have issues as you prepare for the downtime, contact the IT Service Desk immediately.
- The change management plan for this upgrade, which includes a Q&A, as well as dates for future Epic upgrades can also be found on the ShareIT site on the intranet.
Special recognition for downtime success!
Ballad Health has been recognized by Epic for being among 37 Epic organizations worldwide that have met established downtime duration goals for upgrades and maintenance!
Epic recognizes organizations using its EHR system that have some of the shortest cumulative downtimes for planned maintenance in the last year, while following Epic maintenance best practices to keep their system up-to-date. The current planned downtime goal is 210 minutes (or 3½ hours) covering a series of several upgrades over the course of the year.
Epic states: “Keeping the system up is important for patient care, so we created the target for all Epic community members to have less than 210 minutes for annual system planned downtime.”
Congratulations to our Epic team for the great work!
