Review Day for Enterprise Clinical System Chronicles ‘Journey of Discovery'

Maury McGough, MD, of North Shore Medical Center, and BWH’s Sue Schade speak during Review Day.

For the past several months, Partners has been laying the groundwork for a new clinical information system that will help improve the quality and affordability of care. When completed, the system will help physicians, nurses and health professionals better coordinate patient care. It will greatly enhance the ability to measure and report on effectiveness and efficiency, and it will help engage patients more closely in their own care.

"This project represents a significant change for the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner family, given our rich history of developing our own advanced clinical systems," said Sue Schade, chief information officer for BW/F. "I am confident that the end result of the process will be a common, integrated solution across Partners that will support our BW/F strategic goal of delivering seamless, high quality patient- and family-centered care."

The project began in earnest last fall when teams worked together to spell out all the elements that a Partners-wide clinical system should contain. Then, hundreds of people from across Partners participated in demonstrations of the two vendor products under consideration - Epic and Siemens. Dozens more attended clinical and technical site visits to other hospitals in the U.S. where these systems are in use.

Approximately 250 people (with another 200 watching via live streaming video) attended Review Day on March 15, which capped the project's progress to date. Through a series of panels followed by comment sessions, participants were updated on each aspect of the project, including the demonstrations and site visits, reference calls and external research on the two products, and how well each vendor might align with Partners as a collaborator and innovator.

"It has been a very open, inclusive and transparent process, and I am confident that this process will lead us to the best solution for Partners and BW/F," Schade said.

 "Our goal from the start has been to approach this journey of discovery with openness, thoroughness, objectivity and a commitment to keeping our promises," Partners Chief Health Information and Innovation Officer David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, said. "We are very grateful for the commitment shown by all those involved thus far, and we look the next major milestone - making a decision on which vendor to choose."

Learn more about Review Day activities >>