How interoperability and cloud transformations can support healthcare organizations

In this panel discussion, Win Vaughan, Managing Director Markets, Advisory Services, sat down with Nordic physician experts Dr. Craig Joseph, Nordic's Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Laura Copeland, Chief Medical Information Officer, Healthtech, A Nordic Global Company; and Dr. Michael Augustyniak, Chief Medical Information Officer, S&P Consultants, A Nordic Global Company to discuss ways to provide a positive clinician experience during an EHR consolidation. As a part of their discussion, Drs. Joseph, Copeland, and Augustyniak cover important topics, including: Prioritizing change management processes early on Setting up clear governance structures Data governance

In this podcast, Nordic’s Director of Performance Improvement Kelly Krulisky sat down with Nordic’s Managing Director of Digital Health Kevin Erdal and Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, along with Emory Healthcare’s Corporate Director Matt Robuck and Texas Children’s Hospital’s VP of IT John Hamm, to discuss the positive effects a new data strategy can have on a health system’s ability to manage their patient population and business operations and how it might improve the overall patient experience.

Join us for a discussion covering the technical components of the cloud transformation with host Kevin Erdal, Managing Director Digital Health (Nordic) and panelists Saran Sonaisamy, Director, Advisory Services (Nordic), Reza Chapman, Managing Director, Cybersecurity (Nordic) and Jimmy DeLurgio, Senior Solution Architect (AWS).

Super User programs are a common piece of the implementation puzzle, but what is their purpose after go-live? Many organizations drop their Super User programs just after their EHR system is implemented. Leveraging your super users post-live can be a significant benefit to long-term behavioral change and system adoption. The key is tailoring the program to your organization’s specific needs and culture. Sarah Rosebrock, Nordic Training Solutions Manager, sits down with Georgianna Kelly, Jerrie Rankin, and Kaitlin Kalina from Baylor Scott & White Health to discuss their system-wide program and how it supports post-live efforts.

Before COVID-19, healthcare organizations already had an overwhelming amount of work around reporting and quality measures. Add COVID-19, and now you have an even heavier reporting load. Nordic recently introduced a way to automate the submission of data to registries with an application called Registry Direct. We sat down with Scott Rossignol, director of interoperability here at Nordic, to have him explain the solution and the main applications for healthcare organizations. If you want to learn more about Registry Direct, we have a brief overview video available. We'd also enjoy a chance to explore your registry or other data submission needs.

Given the COVID-19 crisis, many organizations have been abruptly pulled into the world of telehealth and the broader world of virtual care before they were fully prepared. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? You may recall go-lives and how you needed to “just get it live” and worry about optimizing later. This is even more true right now with telehealth. There are many opportunities to optimize and fully harness the power of virtual care. It’s so much more than just the technology that enables the encounter. To explain how we might finish what we started with virtual care, we sat down with Dr. Laura Copeland, who is both chief medical information officer at Healthtech Consultants (a Nordic subsidiary) and a practicing physician. We talked about how her private practice has changed and what changes she still sees necessary to make virtual care truly deliver on its promise. Enjoy the conversation and if you have questions, remember to write us at [email protected] or [email protected] if you are in Canada. Thanks for listening!

Picture this scenario: It’s Monday morning and you’re driving into work. Cars are typically bumper to bumper at this hour, but not today. Traffic’s flowing so well, you’ll have enough time to stop and get Starbucks before your 8 a.m. meeting. Then, WHAM! You hit a pothole. It came out of nowhere. The next thing you know your car’s making a loud thumping sound. You pull over to the side of the road and, sure enough – you’ve got a flat. To make matters worse, you don’t have a spare tire. In an instant, your morning commute went from smooth to stressful. It’s time to call a tow truck. Oh, and never mind Starbucks, you’re not even going to make it to that 8 a.m. meeting. Wouldn’t it have been nice if you had a little warning about that pothole? A simple road sign or barrier would have helped you avoid a morning of chaos.   Warnings signs are helpful for many scenarios in life – especially as you develop your Affiliate extension strategy. There’s a lot you can learn from other organizations that have experienced challenges during this process, so you can account for and avoid potential pitfalls (or potholes) with your own program. Experts from our Affiliate Solutions team recently discussed the most common pitfalls they see organizations experience with an extension program: Expectation-setting Delineating responsibility Identifying decision-makers Developing repeatable processes Testing oversight   Listen in as they offer planning tips to avoid these issues, so you can experience a more seamless affiliate extension – free from any potholes. And if you need help developing your EHR extension strategy, or have questions about specific challenges you’re facing, let’s talk. We’ll listen to your needs and help you determine the best roadmap for your organization and its affiliates.

Odds are, while you spent the past decade focused on enhancing the critical functions of your EHR, you may have had little time (or money) to spend on your organization’s other important “E” system. Your ERP. Now you’re left trying to reconcile your state-of-the-art EHR with a lack-luster, legacy ERP. Which, in many ways, can be like trying to connect your iPhone with a walkie-talkie. If you want these systems to operate cohesively, it’s time to turn your attention toward updating, upgrading, or replacing your legacy ERP system. And while you may be in the initial phases of planning your ERP update and integration with your EHR, we’re here to tell you it’s worth it. We recently sat down with a few of our performance improvement experts who’ve witnessed these benefits first hand. They just completed a project where they helped an organization enhance its EHR and ERP integration in the perioperative areas. By pinpointing and resolving the EHR/ERP integration issues surrounding the organization’s OR supply chain, the team helped the organization increase time savings and cost reduction – enhancements that have already added millions of dollars to its bottom line. Listen in as our experts make a compelling case for driving functionality between your systems to realize these improvements in the OR and beyond. Also, if your organization is looking to upgrade your ERP system in the future, they outline a few steps you can take right now to make the transition easier in the long-run. If you’d like to discuss this topic further, or if you’re looking for additional advice on your ERP migration strategy, please schedule a give us a call.  

Some days it may feel like all you’re doing is putting out fires. As soon as you resolve one maintenance issue with an application, a completely unrelated problem may appear with another application. If it’s to the point where these fires are keeping you and your team from accomplishing other, more strategic work, it may be time to call in some reinforcements. That’s where our Managed Services team can help. We can take on support and maintenance tasks, providing ongoing issues-resolution for your organization and its extension partners. Our team can also offer high-level knowledge and practical expertise at a predictable cost, digging in deeper to solve problems at the root cause. We recently sat down with experts from our Managed Services and Affiliate Solutions teams to discuss how hub-and-spoke organizations can benefit from remote support. They share what you can expect from managed services, ways that Nordic’s Managed Services team supports extension partners, and how to determine if managed services is the right solution for your organization. If you’re interested in learning more about managed services, and whether it may be a helpful resource for your hub and spokes, listen to the podcast. And if you’d like to discuss how Nordic’s Managed Services or Affiliate teams can help support your EHR extension, please schedule a meeting with us.

When you’re in the thick of an extension project, it can be easy to get caught up in the everyday details. You have a long list of priorities, and more than likely, you’re focused on building a solid system for your extension partners over building a solid relationship with them. We get it. There’s a lot to manage during this process. And sometimes it’s more convenient to put the relationship-build on the back burner. However, to deliver an EHR system that leads to effective outcomes, you’ll need to establish a strong relationship with your extension partners – sooner rather than later. Recently, members of our Affiliate Solutions team sat down to discuss how to build this relationship, offering advice on setting expectations, improving communication, and establishing a partnership mentality. If you’re looking for ways to strengthen your hub-and-spoke relationship, listen in on the podcast. And if you’d like to discuss this topic further, or if you’re looking for additional advice on your EHR extension project, please schedule a meeting with us.