Winter 2014
2 Church Street South, Suite 114 | New Haven, Connecticut 06519 | p 203.785.3482 | f 203.737.2480
Inside This Issue
2 Using bpas 3 Epic & Clinical Research 4 Events Calendar MyChart: Supporting Patient Care & Research 5 Connecting OnCore with Epic 6 Third Annual AllScholar Day Retreat Using OnCore for Biospecimen Management 7 How To Avoid Rejection of Your Manuscript
Photo by Harold Shapiro
Director’s Corner
Now that Epic, Yale’s electronic medical record (emr) system, is in place across the entire Yale New Haven Health System, clinicians and patients are reaping the benefits of a single database poised to transform both clinical care and research. On the clinical side, Epic’s seamless flow of data enables collaboration among physicians; facilitates communication between providers and patients; improves access to health information; and helps to standardize care. From the research standpoint, having a wealth of data in one place represents a potential that investigators are just beginning to explore. While the system is refined and updated continuously, clinicians are becoming increasingly comfortable using it. “There was a steep learning curve, but we wouldn’t want to go back to the way things were,” said Allen Hsiao, m.d., associate chief medical information officer for Yale New Haven Health System (ynhhs), and associate professor of pediatrics (emergency medicine) and of emergency medicine. “We’ve all gotten used to having a better understanding of our patients and their illnesses as a whole because of all the information we have available to us now. Having ambulatory, inpatient, emergency department, and operating room information all in one place has dramatically changed the way we practice medicine for the better.” Photo Nicholas Licht
8 New Administrator to Support All Areas of Clinical Research
Epic: Changing the Way Medicine is Practiced
The Big Bang
Yale’s implementation of Epic—completed under budget and on time—is nationally recognized for its efficiency and is serving as a model for other institutions. Over the span of three years, Epic has been implemented at Yale-New Haven Hospital; Greenwich Hospital; Bridgeport Hospital; the Yale Medical Group (ymg); Northeast Medical Group; and Yale Health, the health plan for Yale employees and students. There are currently over 1,200 physiAllen Hsiao, m.d. and Daniel Barchi cians using Epic in their offices and more than three million patients enrolled in the system. “We moved quickly, but always with an eye toward patient safety and the care we provide,” said Lisa Stump, vp, associate chief information officer for ynhhs, who served as project director for the Epic implementation.
This issue of our newsletter focuses on Yale’s it initiatives and how Epic, the electronic medical record, and OnCore, the clinical research management system, are increasing the efficiency and quality of both clinical care and research. When we were awarded the Clinical and Translational Science Award (ctsa) in 2006, one of our first priorities was to implement an it platform that would support clinicians and investigators in delivering and developing innovative medical care. At that time, medical records and clinical research used a patchwork of databases, spreadsheets and paper forms that impeded access to data and the management of clinical research. We’ve come such a long way in just a few years. For the first time ever, Yale has a single it system for clinical care, scheduling, and billing utilized across the health system. We also have a clinical research management system that has streamlined the initiation and management of clinical trials, easing the administrative burden for investigators while improving reporting and compliance. Best of all, we have broken new ground in integrating the two systems. Yale was the first institution to integrate Epic and OnCore, and is paving the way for other academic medical centers eager to reap the rewards of this approach. This initiative enhances the ability of investigators to plan and conduct clinical research while improving the experience of those who participate in clinical studies. As the Epic and OnCore teams continue to work fast and furiously to refine the systems and bring new tools online, we should all be proud of the great strides we’ve taken to make Yale’s it vision a reality.
Yale chose a “big bang” approach to implementing Epic, bringing the entire system—comprising clinical care, scheduling, and billing—live simultaneously at each site. “That makes it a much more robust experience for the end user, and the users get the benefit of seeing an integrated record,” said Lisa Edwards, director of clinical applications for ynhhs. Rather than getting bogged down in perfecting each element, Yale took a broad approach in soliciting input from all stakeholders and user groups, following a clear plan that included standards for building and testing as well as adhering to a strict timeframe. Physicians from across
Robert Sherwin, m.d. ycci Director
continued on page 2
Don’t miss the Third Annual All-Scholar Retreat on April 1. See page 6 for details. Written by Jill Max
Winter 2014 | 1