Vanderbilt Home Care, the home care division of Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center, successfully transitioned to Epic for its electronic health records in January, a strategic move to its outdated EHR system.
Amy Harrison, RN, MSN, president of Vanderbilt Home Care, told Becker's that its previous EHR system was hindered by manual processes and inefficiencies. Epic emerged as the clear choice, given its existing integration with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The transition spanned approximately 15 months and involved extensive collaboration across multiple teams within VUMC. But, one of the unique challenges of the integration was ensuring that the financial metrics of home care could be segregated from those of the broader hospital system.
"We had to work very closely with the finance team to make sure that our financial metrics were distinct and accurately reflected our operations," Ms. Harrison said.
Clinician-centric customizations
A key focus of the transition was ensuring that the system met the specific needs of Vanderbilt Home Care's clinicians.
"We were able to customize the documentation process to be more user-friendly, thanks to the active involvement of our clinicians in the design process," Ms. Harrison said.
According to Ms. Harrison, this clinician-driven approach ensured that the EHR system was tailored to the workflow requirements of those using it daily.
Early benefits
One of the most significant improvements with the new EHR system was the streamlined workflow for clinicians.
"Before the switch, our clinicians had to navigate multiple systems to access patient records, which was cumbersome and time-consuming. Now, it's much more seamless, with fewer clicks and less time spent on administrative tasks," Ms. Harrison said.
The integration has also delivered significant benefits from a revenue cycle perspective. Previously, Vanderbilt Home Care managed its own revenue cycle independently, but now it benefits from the full support of VUMC's revenue cycle team.
"This has been a game changer for us," Ms. Harrison said.
Future enhancements
Despite the success of the Epic implementation, Vanderbilt Home Care continues to look toward the future. One recent enhancement is the implementation of electronic visit verification, a federal requirement for Medicaid recipients.
"We just went live with EVV in June, and it was a heavy lift. But our health IT team and the Epic team did a fantastic job getting us up and running," Ms. Harrison said.
This new capability allows clinicians to verify visits electronically through the EHR system, streamlining the process and reducing the need for external applications.