Partners eCare Next Phase: Organizational Readiness

With the majority of Partners eCare workflow validation sessions completed, subject matter experts, or "SMEs," across Partners are participating in Clinical Content Committees to determine the flow sheets, order sets, plans of care and other clinical content to be built into the system. More than 250 SMEs participated in clinical content sessions in October alone.

Once complete, a single, integrated system-Partners eCare-will replace the majority of existing clinical and administrative systems at BWHC. The goal is "one patient, one record, one team, one Partners statement," enabling a seamless flow of clinical and administrative information about a patient anywhere within the Partners system. 

Meanwhile, BWHC is preparing for the next phase of Partners eCare implementation, called "organizational readiness," to ensure it is ready for rollout in spring 2015. As part of organizational readiness, SMEs and clinical and administrative leaders across Partners will be reviewing hundreds of workflows-everything from admitting a patient and placing a patient in a bed to ordering medication-to see how these workflows will work with the new Epic software. This process will occur from January through summer 2014. Department go-live readiness checklists and training procedures will also be developed during this time.

NWH and MGH will be first to roll out the Partners eCare revenue cycle system in 2014, followed by clinical system implementations in 2016. BWHC will be the first to combine both the revenue cycle and clinical systems into one roll-out in spring 2015, followed by other Partners institutions across the network through 2017.

For more information, visit the Partners eCare website, which includes tailored information for varying staff roles and Partners institutions, at partnersecare.partners.org, and sign-up for the new ONE Link newsletter. For questions about BWHC readiness, email Shelly Anderson at sanderson13@partners.org, Margo Daphnis at mdaphnis@partners.org or Dot Goulart at dgoulart@partners.org.