Posted on: June 18, 2024
Since fully activating the electronic health record (EHR) at Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) June 8, medical staff have been getting used to a new set of tools to assist them with computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and management. The overall feeling so far is that of “increasing confidence”, according to Associate Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Eric Shafonsky.
“There’s a positive sense of our ability to make the change to electronic ordering,” says Dr. Shafonsky.
With a variety of support streams at the ready, including at-the-elbow support, a dedicated help desk, the Cerner Wiki and daily key message publications, IHealth project staff and partners are ensuring that medical staff have the information they need to succeed in their work.
Also notable is a renewed interest in electronic clinical documentation, which has been active at RJH since September 2021.
“We’ve observed an appetite to get more value out of the clinical documentation functionality,” says Dr. Lonn Myronuk. “It's kind of been at a plateau in terms of adoption. Introducing these changes has broken us through that plateau a little and got some ideas flowing in their minds.”
Along with the new tools comes plenty of opportunity for the project team to identify learning needs and create aids that help bridge the gap between new use and mastery.
“We want to acknowledge the work taking place toward supporting our patients in transition, and the physicians and teams on either side of the patient location/service transfer,” says Dr. Shafonsky. “And that's ongoing work to ensure patient safety and continuity of care. We look forward to getting through the hybrid VGH/RJH period.”
The IHealth medical leads would like to thank South Island and Nanaimo physicians who helped prepare for a successful first week of Go-Live. Island-wide, medical staff support with order set harmonization and starting CPOE at RJH has been invaluable.
You can now find the RJH Daily Key Messages on the Medical Staff web site for the latest in practice reminders and CPOE tips and tricks, as well as every issue of the Go-Live News featuring medical and clinical staff Go-Live experiences.