New group provides oversight for eStar stabilization
On Jan. 26, thousands of Vanderbilt University Medical Center colleagues took a moment to stop by Langford Auditorium so their leaders could thank them for their time, effort and dedication in making the transition to eStar. Colleagues viewed photos and videos from Go Live, read personal thank-you messages from EpicLeap team leadership, received a special gift, and were able to reflect on all their hard work in making the eStar implementation a success.
Although November’s Go Live is now officially part of the Medical Center’s history, extensive work continues as groups all over VUMC focus on stabilizing eStar. To help lead this Stabilization phase, a newly formed group has been established.
Led by Paul Sternberg Jr., MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, Executive Cchief Nursing Officer, the eStar Stabilization Oversight Group builds on the successful collaboration among Vanderbilt’s clinical, operational and technology leadership teams from the Go Live phase. This collaboration resulted in rapid decision-making, effective prioritization and extensive accountability from across VUMC. As VUMC neared the end of our Go Live period, there remained a number of complex issues that required continued mobilization and ongoing oversight.
These post-Go Live challenges have been organized into a number of workgroups, ranging from clinic intake to patient communications to hospital discharge management. Each workgroup has been assigned owners from VUMC’s clinical and operational teams, who will receive extensive support from HealthIT. This shared ownership model continues that collaboration VUMC experienced during Go Live.
For example, the Patient Communication workgroup oversees work related to both My Health at Vanderbilt, VUMC’s patient portal which allows patients to message their providers, and eStar’s InBasket functionality, which is the “back-end” within the technology that routes and flags these messages. Operational leaders Michele Hasselblad, associate nursing officer, and Brian Carlson, senior director of patient experience, work hand-in-hand with HealthIT directors Jared Cobb and Brent Moseng to oversee the effort. The InBasket group also addresses broader issues with this functionality that may not be directly related to patient communication, but have an impact on patient care.
The eStar Stabilization Oversight Group will continue in this oversight function as long as VUMC remains in this particular phase of an Epic implementation project — a phase that can last several months in an academic medical center of Vanderbilt’s size.