Note to leaders: This information is available in printable PDF format by clicking here. Please print and post, as appropriate, for your team.   Who is affected? All Ballad Health Epic users. What is expected? Epic users will experience a scheduled downtime due to a system upgrade. From Friday, June 11 through Thursday, June 17, there will be an IT system freeze on moves, adds and changes. The clinical informatics team will be rounding in the acute care facilities wearing the blue Super User vests. When will the upgrade take place? The upgrade process will begin on Tuesday, June 15, around 11 p.m. The Epic upgrade will start to be applied around 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, June 16. The Epic system will be offline until approximately 8 a.m. on Wednesday. IT will send a notice as soon as the upgrade is clear. Why are we scheduling an Epic upgrade? To ensure that our Epic software is…

Team members who went live with Epic in June and October are encouraged to take the latest survey about the experience. There are separate surveys for each go-live, and both will be open through Thursday, April 8. These end-user surveys are distributed ahead of the scheduled post-live visits to gauge how end users feel about the system. Epic post-live visits occur three times after a go-live and are an opportunity to circle back with end users to collect feedback on system functionality, training and reporting to direct optimization projects and ongoing training. Site visits will be held April 19-30. This round of site visits will be virtual (held via Webex) to encourage and respect social distancing. If you went live in June, click here to take the survey. (This is for post-live visit #3) If you went live in October, click here to take the survey. (This is for post-live visit #2) The survey will take five-10 minutes to…

For physicians and advanced practice providers (APP) who are new Epic users, there are “Thrive After Live” training sessions being offered to help you learn tips and tricks to increase your efficiency in the Epic system. For physicians and APP who provide care in the clinics only – dates and times will be scheduled onsite for these “Thrive” sessions. Here are upcoming dates and locations (times are 6 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3-7 p.m.): Johnson City Medical Center – Jan. 11 and Feb. 10, CVT conference area computer room Niswonger Children’s Hospital – Jan. 13 and Feb. 11, CVT conference area computer room Woodridge Hospital – Jan. 14 and Feb. 12, office in administration hallway Franklin Woods Community Hospital – Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, physician lounge Sycamore Shoals Hospital – Jan. 18 and Feb. 18, physician lounge Indian Path Community Hospital – Jan. 20 and Feb. 17, physician lounge Johnston Memorial Hospital – Jan. 25…

We encourage team members who went live with Epic in June and in October to take a survey about the experience. The two surveys will be open through Nov. 25, so the deadline is upon us! NOTE: You are not required to give your name in the survey. That fill-in box is optional. Also, your workplace location is only used to help us triage responses back to teams that need additional support. We want your feedback, good or bad. The important thing is to give honest, constructive feedback about your experience in order to improve workflows and better support patient care. If you went live in June, click here to take the survey. If you went live in October, click here to take the survey. The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. Thank you for a successful conversion to Epic, and thank you for your feedback as we continue our Epic journey!

As we move ahead with Epic as our sole electronic health record platform across Ballad Health, there are still plenty of things to learn or keep up with about our journey to one patient, one record. Check out the November issue of “Next chapter,” our monthly Epic newsletter, by clicking here. We also encourage team members who went live with Epic in June and in October to take a survey about the experience. The two surveys will be open through Nov. 25. Team members should have received a link to a post-live survey in their Ballad Health email. Both links are included in the November “Next chapter” and are also provided here: If you went live in June, click here to take the survey. If you went live in October, click here to take the survey. The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. Thank you for a successful conversion to Epic, and thank you for…

Team members who went live with Epic in June and in October are being asked to take a survey about the experience. The two surveys will be distributed within the week, and will be open through Nov. 25. Team members will receive a link to a post-live survey in their Ballad Health email. The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete and should be submitted no later than Nov. 25. One survey is for October go-live team members and one is for June go-live participants. Your feedback is very important in helping Epic and IT gauge how you feel about the Epic EHR system and how productive you feel when you are using it. Survey responses will be used to: Prioritize outstanding issues Spot trends across user groups Identify struggling departments or user groups We value your transparency: Whether go-live was epic or not-so-epic, tell us what went well and what could have gone better. IT…

Congratulations! With the Thursday, Oct. 1, Epic Go-Live, Ballad Health’s conversion to Epic as our electronic health record system is complete. All Ballad Health hospitals and clinics are now on the same platform! This is a milestone in the full integration of the two legacy systems that formed Ballad Health. Getting all our facilities and team members onto the same EHR system is a major step forward, and it will be better for our patients and easier for our team members. It has taken years of preparation, months of training and an amazing amount of teamwork and collaboration across Ballad Health. Thousands of team members contributed support in one way or another – with IT, the Epic transition team and our Super Users leading the way. In addition to doing this transition during a pandemic, our IT team also launched a major project to replace 10,000 computers and convert the entire system to Windows 10….

Are you or your team members providing frontline support during the October Epic go-live? If so, read what you need to do to prepare. Team members and providers (in or out of staffing) in both Epic-live and non-Epic-live hospitals and clinics need to visit HealthStream and register for “Epic Super User Go Live Readiness – BigBang – OctGL.” This one-hour class will prepare you to successfully assist your teammates during go-live come Oct. 1. Choose from 50 Webex class offerings (7 a.m.-10 p.m.) between now and Sept. 29. More than 1,000 Epic Super Users have already registered to attend a session of “Epic Super User Go Live Readiness.” If you are not among those who have already been registered by your manager, log in to HealthStream today and get registered to attend a LIVE one-hour Webex session. If you have questions about Epic training, contact epictraining@balladhealth.org.

If you were unable to log into Epic after your last training class and you are finished with training, here’s how to resolve the issue:

Are you or your team members providing frontline support during the October Epic go-live? If so, read what you need to do to prepare. Team members and providers (in or out of staffing) in both Epic-live and non-Epic-live hospitals and clinics need to visit HealthStream and register for “Epic Super User Go Live Readiness – BigBang – OctGL.” This one-hour class will prepare you to successfully assist your teammates during go-live come Oct. 1. Choose from 50 Webex class offerings (7 a.m.-10 p.m.) between now and Sept. 29. More than 1,000 Epic Super Users have already registered to attend a session of “Epic Super User Go Live Readiness.” If you are not among those who have already been registered by your manager, log in to HealthStream today and get registered to attend a LIVE one-hour Webex session. If you have questions about Epic training, contact epictraining@balladhealth.org.  

Our second Epic Go-Live of 2020 takes place starting Oct. 1. FOR THOSE WHO NEED EPIC TRAINING BUT HAVE NOT YET REGISTERED, TIME IS RUNNING OUT! PLEASE REGISTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Remember, if you have not received training, you will not have access to Epic. If you’re a team member Check with your manager about training registration or you can read about other helpful information at www.bepictoday.org. If you’re a provider You can register for in-person or virtual training. Sign up through one of the following methods: Log into HealthStream and register yourself for training. Call 423-975-7090. Email epictraining@balladhealth.org. If you prefer virtual training, you can register for Webex classes through HealthStream. Here are specific instructions. It is highly recommended that, at least 24 hours before the class, you complete the Webex connectivity functionality test. For more detailed instructions on registering for classes, please visit www.bepictoday.org.