April 2010
"Go Lives" a Big Success
March 17, 2010 was electric with anticipation and optimism as the
first three areas – neighborhood centers Asa G. Yancey and North
DeKalb, and the Emergency Care Center – officially came online with
Epic. At our neighborhood centers, staff are now scheduling, docu-
menting, placing orders and reviewing results in Epic.
Here are just a few scenes from the big day…
ECC staff are now using the new elec-
tronic information tracking board to
monitor patients’ status. The compre-
hensive electronic tracker replaces the
old whiteboard-and-markers system
and gives everyone in the ECC up-to-
the-minute details about all patients
undergoing care.
Epic implementation team members
are on site to provide assistance to
staff during Asa G. Yancey’s “go live”
and will be on site at every neighbor-
hood health center’s launch of Epic
to fix problems as quickly as possible
leading up to October 31’s “big
bang” at the hospital.
Jan Douglas, MD from North DeKalb
is just one of the caregivers who
set the pace for others throughout
Grady with the successful start of one
of the biggest transformations in the
organization’s history.
Members of the Epic
implementation team
take a moment to pause
in memory of the old
ECC whiteboards that
now stand empty as
manual tracking gives
way to instantaneous
information sharing.
One Go Live for NHCs
Due to the success of the first Epic launches
at Asa G. Yancey and North DeKalb Neigh-
borhood Health Centers, a decision has
been made that promises to get even more
of Grady online with Epic in one fell swoop.
The remaining neighborhood health
centers will all go live with Epic on June 15,
2010. The consolidated go live enables:
1. Deployment of a full team of
resources
2. A command center in place to
resolve issues in real time
3. Increased number of floor support
staffed by the Epic training team
4. Cross-NHC collaboration and
support throughout the "go live"
process
5. E-prescribing can be launched in
all centers
The training schedule is being structured
to allow all clinical staff to practice for over
a month in Epic Playground and develop
skills before using the live system.
Move It!
Need to access Epic but
you’re always on the
move? Go mobile in your
work area with the new
Epic rolling workstations.
As part of the hardware
upgrade plan, some
departments will be
getting Jaco’s Ultra Series SL mobile wire-
less computer carts (pictured above). The
cart has an extended use battery, adjusts
easily to any employee’s height, and is
light and maneuverable to make moving
from room to room easy. Departments
receiving mobile workstations will have
them in place prior to their “go live” day.
A glimpse into the excitement
on March 17...
From The Grapevine
From Hogai G. Nassery, M.D., an Epic team subject matter expert and
Deputy Vice President of Medical Affairs, Ambulatory and Community
Easy As 1-2-3
Medicine, in an email to colleagues: Completed Before Go Live:
• 4,150 appointments
Well, we're five hours into our Epic implementation at North DeKalb and Asa G. converted from Invision
Yancey. It's been exciting, interesting, humbling and stressful and amazing. to Epic
• 129 pieces of equipment
• Exciting: felt like today was the first day of deployed
kindergarten. Even the patients are excited. • 3,200 charts abstracted into
• Interesting: it's a whole new world without all Epic for use by the clinics
the forms to fill out. Got all my charts back at • 620 Grady employees
the end of the session, and I wasn't sure what trained
to do with them! • 800 user accounts created
• Humbling: it's a very, very steep learning curve • Wireless networks installed
just within a few hours of being "live". I wanted • Network infrastructure
to handcuff a 'super user' to my desk. upgraded
Hogai G. Nassery, M.D
• Stressful: only managed to see three patients • New helpdesk logging
the whole morning, and I typed way more than I expected. Gotta system used by all to track
figure these SmartSets out... go-live calls
• Amazing: this program is just awesome/amazing/incredible... all
my little Post-it notes on my desk and computer to remind me to On Go Live Day:
time the note, do the medication reconciliation, etc. are now • 43 North DeKalb patients
moot points. seen
• 76 North DeKalb future
This is good. Very, very good. I'm so proud of our staff, providers, Epic/IS team, appointments scheduled
patients, trainers, super users, leaders. Everyone is rising to the occasion. Life • 29 Asa G. Yancey patients
at work is going to be so different, and this is just the beginning. seen
• 59 Asa G. Yancey future
And from Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, member of the Epic executive steer- appointments scheduled
ing committee and Chief of Emergency Medicine:

I will say that we've had a great day overall in the ECC.
We went "live" around midnight this morning and have
been humming along ever since. All of the teams (EPIC,
Support, Super-users, Administrative, etc) have been
great, really on top of the issues and in many cases,
instant problem solvers and my staff have certainly
appreciated the support.
I marvel at the incredible "change" in the ECC in just 15
Leon L. Haley Jr., MD hours - the old white boards are completely empty,
there’s instant access to triage information, real dis-
charge instructions for patients, color coding and real-time updates on lab
and radiology status – in a simple word, beautiful. I'm sitting at my desk
right now in the office and can look at everyone in the ECC right now,
how long they're waiting, what they're waiting for, etc – it's been a 10 year
wait, but I fully appreciate it now.
There are still some things to fix and make more "smooth", but overall
– great start!
Visit for Feedback,
Preparation
Citing the chance to learn from
hands-on experience, medical direc-
tors and practice administrators for
Grady’s neighborhood health centers
are using the launch of Epic at Asa G.
Yancey and North DeKalb as a
teaching and learning opportunity.
The group has clear goals: see
Epic live in the patient care set-
ting, and learn more about system
problems and solutions that have
come up since the March 17 launch
before other centers go online.
Don’t Forget These Important Dates!
Training is mandatory for anyone who will be using Epic. Step 1: Go to www.brownboard.com, set up an account,
complete the required online modules. Step 2: Attend the required classes according to your position.
Go Live Date Your Location Important Training Dates Your Routine Tasks and the Epic Applications
Jun. 15, 2010 Neighborhood Health
Centers:
- Otis Smith
- East Point
- DeKalb Grady
- South DeKalb
- North Fulton
- Lindbergh
Oct. 31, 2010
"Big Bang"
Emergency Department
All Inpatient Departments
Primary Care Centers (i.e.,
Pods) & OB Speciality Clinics
Inpatient Pharmacy
OR
Radiology and inpatient
departments that conduct
Cardiology procedures
Specialty Ambulatory Clinics
(not clinical documentation)
Environmental Services
Medical Records
Main Admissions/Bed
Control
Patient Financial Services
May 10 - Jun. 15:
- End-user Training
- Practice on Playground
May 24 – Jun. 12:
Staff shadowing at NDK & Asa G.
Yancey (following training and
Playground practice)
May 31 – Jun. 12:
Refresher and super user
reinforcement training
Jun. 5:
Dress rehearsal
Sep. 5 - Oct. 29
(All remaining locations)
You’ll Learn to Use
- Clinical Documentation
(EpicCare Ambulatory)
- Order Entry
- Scheduling (Cadence) at live NHCs only
- Clinical Documentation (ASAP)
- Order Entry (including ePrescribing)
- Clinical Documentation
- Order Entry (including ePrescribing)
- Labor & Delivery (Stork)
- OR (OpTime)
- Clinical Documentation (EpicCare Ambulatory)
- Order Entry (including ePrescribing)
- Scheduling (Cadence)
- Registration (ADT/Prelude)
- IP Pharmacy
- OpTime
- Anesthesia (Pre-Op, Post-Op)
- Radiology IS (Radiant)
- Scheduling (Cadence)
- Registration (ADT/Prelude)
- EVS
- HIM
- ADT/Bed Planning
- Resolute Hospital Billing