Memphis-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare revealed plans in January to consolidate nine systems into one Epic EHR across its network, and plans to go live in October 2024. The health system is also transitioning to Workday in June next year, a big feat for any organization.
Transitioning to a new EHR and ERP platform in the same year requires considerable financial investment and human resources. Why take the leap now, in an uncertain economic environment?
"We debated. There is never a good time to do something like this," said Michael Ugwueke, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur. "We were one of the early adopters of these technology platforms, and we knew this day would come. We looked at our systems and realized we couldn't wait any longer. Coming out of COVID was challenging enough, and not having a truly integrated system made things harder. We struggled during the pandemic and added bolt-ons to our system to make communication work."
Installing new technology platforms is a considerable expense, but even given the overall financial challenges for health systems right now, Methodist Le Bonheur's board supported and encouraged the investment.
"The financials have been challenging over the last several years and we knew it would be costly, but the longer we waited, the more expensive it would be. It's not going to get cheaper," said Dr. Ugwueke. "Not doing it now would have been a bigger cost in the future."
Dr. Ugwueke set three goals for the project: to be on time, on budget and on benefit.
"We are accomplishing all three goals to date, and I don't see any reason why we won't be on budget next year," he said. "We will start mass training all of the 12,000 to 14,000 employees and physicians, and a lot of work is going on right now to make that happen."
The health system already has several super users trained and kicked off initiatives to energize the team. Methodist Le Bonheur's personal medical record will be called My MLH Passport, as in a passport to health.
"With that theme, it allowed us to make the transition fun by tying it to travel and using the team as travelers. We have destinations, captains and first officers, so it became a fun way to talk about serious initiatives," Dr. Uguweke said.