Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health is gearing up for a successful Epic launch by bolstering leadership overseeing the EHR implementation, the health system's IT chief told Becker's.
The go-live is still more than two years away, but it will be a big part of the job for new IU Health CIO David Burton, who started in the role Feb. 9.
"We put our A-team on this — and not just our IT A-team," Mr. Burton said. "We have pulled rock star operational leaders onto this project to make every investment and mitigate every risk to have this be a really great go-live."
Brian Kremer, the former COO of IU Health Physicians, will helm the EHR implementation.
Mr. Burton also plans to focus on cybersecurity, consumer experience and AI as CIO, but the transition from Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) to Epic is a major reason he took on the new role.
"The last time we implemented an EMR is when I joined IU Health 24 years earlier," Mr. Burton said. "If there was going to be an opportunity to meaningfully influence what the future of IU Health looks like from a technical perspective, this was the right time."
The $8.6 billion, 15-hospital system plans to launch Epic all at once, coinciding with the opening of its new $2.3 billion Indianapolis medical center in mid-2027, rather than pursue a phased approach.
"If you are more nervous about the quality of your go-live, you might want to stage it to mitigate risk," Mr. Burton said. "I'm sure there are a lot of CFOs who are like, 'If this Epic go-live doesn't go well, it could tank our cash flow and be really disruptive.' I don't want to dismiss that perspective. But I also think the longer you run projects out, the more expensive the total investment tends to be."
He said IU Health has a "long-standing history of running very large projects successfully."
Epic will go a long way toward improving the consumer experience at IU Health, but in the meantime the health system plans to boost online bill pay and scheduling, he said.
Mr. Burton said his tenure as CIO will be judged largely by how the Epic rollout goes.
"Our intent is to use this as a catalyst to bring a high-quality, clinical experience to the entire state," he said. "As I look longer term, that will be a key litmus test on whether we have been successful from a technology perspective."