BJC HealthCare and the Washington University Faculty Practice Plan has selected Epic as its strategic partner for a single, integrated EHR for BJC’s hospitals and employed physicians. The decision was made after an extensive and thorough twelve-month process that included surveys, demonstrations and site visits. The new EHR system will incorporate clinical documentation from all areas of patient care into a single database for greater ease of use, better accuracy and timeliness, and the increased satisfaction of patients and clinicians, as patient information will be shared more easily.
Clay Dunagan, MD, BJC Senior VP
“In the end, Epic excelled in the area of greatest importance to BJC and Washington University — the ability to support our clinicians in the critical work of taking care of patients,” says Clay Dunagan, MD, BJC senior vice president and chief clinical officer. “The other vendors offered appealing platforms in their own right, including partnership opportunities that were very attractive to us. But, functionality for clinicians was the dominant issue and this is where Epic was the leader in assessment after assessment. As an added plus, Epic is offering increasingly robust solutions to support clinical research and population health,” Dr. Dunagan adds. “The bottom line — Epic is the right system at the right time for BJC and Washington University.”
Epic Project Details
A pre-implementation team has already been established led by John Krettek, MD, BJC vice president for clinical improvement with members from:
– community hospital clinical workflow improvement (CWI) and clinical information system (CIS) teams;
– CWI/CIS at Barnes-Jewish Hospital
– St. Louis Children’s Hospital
– BJC information services
The core team will be working on a number of activities including:
– gathering and cataloging data, processes and practices among all of the inpatient clinical documentation systems currently used at the community and academic medical center hospitals late last year.
– identifying areas of interest that will be included in the scope of the project
– defining a timeline for the project
– identifying governance structure and project team
– selecting a third-party planning partner
– hiring staff needed for the project
For this initial phase, ambulatory processes are not included.
Physician Demand for Epic
According to Felipe Orellana, MD, BJC physicians of St Charles County were ecstatic to hear the news that Epic was chosen as the Core Clinical Solution. “Many of the physicians from BJSPH and PWH have used Epic at other institutions and were thrilled when it was announced that we would be going with Epic. They were also thrilled to hear that Epic would be used in the majority of areas including ER, inpatient and outpatient. Having a common EMR across all environments will make clinical work a lot more efficient and in turn improve patient care,” Dr. Orellana says.
Dr. Woeltje from Washington University also echoed the feedback he has heard from physicians on both the WU and community sides also has been overwhelmingly positive. “As was reflected in the process, Epic was the first choice for almost all of them, so they are delighted we’re going that way. Now the focus is on the implementation process,” he says. “Again, I’ve been impressed that the physicians I’ve heard from have as their first and foremost wish that BJC and WU implement a system that is integrated and consistent across all care delivery sites.”
